Dogtags
by TwinTrouble
Summary: Pet: n. 1. A fit of bad temper or pique. 2. An animal kept for amusement or companionship. 3. Uzumaki Naruto, host of Kyuubi no Kitsune.
1. Prologue

Twin1: Hey, does anyone know the official name for the jinchuuriki of the Rokubi, the six-tailed demon? We have a pretty picture, but I can't find his name anywhere, and he doesn't wear a nametag… I didn't like having to make one up…

Okay, now, before we get onto anything serious, the **warnings **for this story are **very important:**

_Dogtags _is not a story for the young or the easily upset. It contains coarse language, violence, and adult themes… okay, it's mostly the themes that are the issue here, as it's not particularly graphic (most of the time, anyway), but there are very strong themes of slavery in this story. Likewise, there is some violence, and a fair bit of cursing, making this a story that really shouldn't be read by anyone under fifteen.

Trust us, people. This story can be _very_ disturbing, and while it is rated 'T', you should approach it with caution. You may find that your opinion of a T-rating is different to ours.

----

_Prologue_

CRR-ACK! SHUUU…

Blue-red eyes widened in alarm and their owner rapidly backpedalled on all fours, away from the falling branch. Dirty nails clutched at the trunk of the tree as a huge bough tumbled through the branches above him.

The creature ducked his head, hunkered against the rough tree bark as the falling branch passed him and hit the ground.

Cr-THUNK!!

A moment of silence, then the bright red-ringed-blue eyes slitted open and a small figure crept forwards, still on all fours, cautiously curious. He scowled and tipped his head back, quickly finding the sheepish face above him.

"Uh… Sorry?" the face offered, blonde hair hanging down around her face. The younger one on the lower branch scowled.

"You nearly killed me!" he complained, the words unpractised and choppy, as if he wasn't used to speaking. The accusation was ended with a squeaky growl.

"I didn't try to!" his companion replied, swinging down to land on the lower branch next to the male. "I thought it would hold. And there was a _whole nest _of eggs on it, too!" She wrinkled her nose, put out.

"I'm hungry," her companion whined. The female placed her arm around him, purring comfortingly in the back of her throat.

"I know, Naru-kit," she murmured.

A quick whistle made the blonde pair glance around. A man with brown-black hair in his late twenties was standing at the base of the tree, cocking his head as he looked up at them curiously.

The female in the tree broke into a smile. "Mirasu!" she exclaimed, jumping down to land lightly beside him. He flinched back from her when she landed too close, but calmed quickly.

"Hello, Yugito," he said tolerantly. "Why is the child still up there?" he asked, gesturing the boy still suspended in the branches above them. Yugito scoffed.

"Oh, he's just pouting because I almost killed him again," she said flippantly. "Nearly smashed him with a tree branch. Good thing he can dodge, ne?"

This statement, of course, caused the boy to pout in true seven year old fashion, thus proving Yugito right.

Mirasu chuckled.

"Come on down, kit," he called. "I have food!"

The boy's tan face lit up and in less time than it took to blink, he was next to the older male, impatiently pawing through Mirasu's clothing for the promised food.

Mirasu flinched again and stepped back swiftly, a deceptively slim hand snapping out to fend off the blonde with surprising strength, shoving the young chest and sending him stumbling backwards a few steps.

The kid pouted more.

Mirasu relaxed, his easy-but-guarded smile returning as he held up a pair of dead cottontails by their ears. "Won't be cooked for a while, kit," he said. "Unless you want 'em raw."

The child looked like he was seriously considering it, but Yugito reached out and elbowed Mirasu hard, taking the rabbits in the same movement.

"We're not eating them raw," she said firmly. Her eyes flicked to the youngest of the three. "We are _not_ animals," she added just as firmly. Then her tone lightened. "Besides, raw meat is gross. Here, Naruto, chew on these until it's cooked."

She held out a fistful of sweet berries, and the feral boy she'd called 'Naruto' smiled and accepted them, sinking down to sit on the damp forest floor to eat them without a second thought. He dumped the handful in his lap and began eating them one by one.

The child out of the way, Yugito shoved the rabbits back into Mirasu's hands and said, "You. Cook these. Hurry up: we're hungry!"

She sat down next to the blonde child, draping one arm around his shoulders. Humming a little, she tapped his right shoulder with her hand as it rested there, and he looked at the limb, his attention attracted by the gesture.

Quick as a flash, while Naruto was looking the wrong way, Yugito stole some of the berries from his lap and shoved them into her mouth in time to block an instant attack from the brat in question.

"Falls for it every time!" she chortled, fingers working to disengage his teeth and claws from her arm.

"I hate you!" Naruto shouted without meaning it, letting her go.

"You do not, kit," Yugito said tolerantly, ruffling his shaggy golden hair, seemingly unperturbed by the puncture wounds on her arm. He scowled at her, before breaking out of it to smile.

His hand went to reach for another of the bright red berries that had already stained his lap and mouth, but it changed its mind at the last minute and instead shot up to tug at the collar encircling his neck.

About an inch in width, the collar was a thick metal circle that lay snug against the child's throat. It was sticky and uncomfortable in the summer and a band of ice in the winter, but always causing some form of discomfort. The smooth band had no buckle or seam, nothing to betray how it had gotten there in the first place. A small ring fixed to the metal was the only thing that marred the smooth object. A length of grubby, frayed rope was secured to the ring, too firmly for Naruto to untie, about thirty centimetres long. The end was scraggly and hardened – it looked like it had been gnawed through.

Yugito watched him tug at the annoying object irritably, her hand snaking up to touch her own neck. She had an identical collar there. They all did.

Mirasu chose that moment to thud down beside the blondes. He smiled and held out a pair of slightly blackened, Katon'ed rabbits.

"Cooked!" he exclaimed proudly. Naruto instantly abandoned tugging fruitlessly at his collar and visibly lit up as he reached for food.

As it turned out, 'cooked' was a bit of a stretch. Burnt on the outside and all but raw on the inside, the three companions ate quickly without complaining. Mirasu was never particularly gifted at Katon jutsu, and he'd had scarce opportunity to practice it since he was nine.

None of them really cared, though. They all ended up fed.

A few minutes of silence later, the rabbits had disappeared, and three happy companions sat side-by-side on the ground. Naruto was chewing on some limb that no-one really wanted to think too hard about, and Yugito was occupying herself by running her fingers through his blonde hair, working tangles out of it.

Mirasu was dozing, tired after their adventure last night. He slipped to the side a little as he nodded, sleep closing in on him.

Then, in a heartbeat, he had sat straight up, instantly wide awake, Yugito had snatched her hands back and was staring with wide brown eyes and Naruto froze mid-chew.

The sound that had affected them all so echoed through the trees again: a quavering, high-pitched note that sounded like a mixture between a whistle and a bugle cry. This time, it had the opposite affect on the three sitting together as they burst into motion, leaping to their feet and looking at each other with panicked expressions. The youngest one, Naruto, made as if to move towards the sound, but he was grabbed by both his older companions. The eldest two exchanged grim looks before gathering together and racing away through the trees, away from the noise, dragging their confused charge with them.

A sharp whistle rent the air as the sound came again, and a voice echoed after them. "Hey! Here boys, girl! Time to come home now! Whee-EEEE!!" He whistled again. "Come on, where are you?"

Naruto stumbled and fell when he heard how close behind them their pursuers were, confusion dancing through his eyes. Mirasu grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him back to his feet, pushing him to urge him to continue running.

The bugle-sound came again, and then another voice said, "They probably can't hear us."

"But look at these tracks; they can't be far!" protested the first voice.

"Go left!" hissed Mirasu, taking up the rear. "There's a stream!"

The trio swerved to the left, sprinting through the trees as quickly as they could while leaving as little evidence of their passing as possible. Yugito led, pushing branches aside, and Mirasu ensured that Naruto followed close behind her.

The pursuer's voices were calling again.

"Here, boys! Here, girl! Whee-EEE!! Where are you? Aren't you hungry? Come on home, have some dinner!"

Yugito grunted as she splashed into an icy stream and began to forge her way upstream. "Follow me and keep up," she hissed over her shoulder. The strange whistle-bugle noise sounded again.

Naruto stumbled over a slippery rock, his head slipping under the water for a brief moment before Mirasu's slender but strong arms hoisted him back above the surface, setting him back on his feet and shoving him forwards. Yugito reached back and grabbed the boy's wrist, hauling him after her even as Mirasu slipped himself and was swept backwards.

Blue eyes watched fearfully over a caramel shoulder as Naruto and Yugito clambered out of the stream, the female helping out the boy who was eleven years her junior.

"Don't look back," she hissed, tugging his wrist as Mirasu caught up with them, shaking water out of his ears. "Just run."

"Where are we going?" Mirasu asked from behind. Yugito hesitated briefly before replying.

"There are some caves up in the hills – I saw them when we were looking for food earlier. If we hide in them until the Handlers are gone-"

"Lead the way," the eldest one cut in, a hand already pushing Naruto to start him moving. Yugito took off again at a run.

"It's okay, little ones!" the second pursuer was shouting now too. "Come on out; it's okay! It's just us! You know us, remember? Come on, there's no need to be afraid!"

Apparently the trio in question did not feel this to be true: the terror on all three faces told that easily enough even as they took to the treetops.

The odd noise sounded again, and Naruto shivered as what he simply dubbed the 'Call' tugged at his soul.

"Maybe…" he ventured, sounding as tentative as was possible while running like all hell, "Maybe we should just go back…"

Yugito did a double take that almost caused her to miss the next branch. "Bite your tongue!" she hissed over her shoulder. "We're not going back!"

"But-" protested Naruto, gritting his teeth as the Call reached his ears again. He had _never _not raced directly to the Handlers when they sounded the Call before. _Never_. Doing so now made him feel sick, dirty and confused.

"No!" Yugito snarled furiously. "No more!"

"He's just a kid," Mirasu objected mildly, so close behind Naruto that the younger could feel his breath on his neck. "Of course he's confused by all this. When _we _were seven-"

"Now's not the time, Mirasu!" Yugito said, her panic evident in her voice. "We need to hurry."

They all flinched as the first Handler shouted again. "Where the hell are you?! Get here now!"

"I don't think you're helping the situation, Yasuo," the second Handler reprimanded. "Here, kit! Here, boy! Come on! Kitten! Pup!" And again he blew on his whistle, sounding the Call.

"They're getting closer," breathed Yugito, her pace quickening. Mirasu yelped as Naruto matched her, shooting away from him, and sped to catch up. Then a curse from behind informed the chasees that their chasers had followed their tracks right to the stream, and then lost them.

"This is getting ridiculous! You three! Wherever you're hiding, get here, _now_!!" The first Handler's tone was becoming gradually harsher as he became more and more frustrated and wet.

"Here! I found their tracks! Upstream!" called the second Handler.

Yugito whimpered slightly; the trackers had been delayed, but not by much. She ducked a low branch and found herself forced down to the ground again by the sudden arrival of thorns. It was probably best they were on the ground anyway, she grudgingly admitted, if the Handlers were going to catch up to them…

"I've had enough of this!! Kit, Cat, Ferret! You have a _three second immunity_!! Come back now and I _won't_ set your collars to 'nicely cooked'!!"

There was a moment of hesitation on Mirasu's part as he – briefly – paused and considered their options, but that split-second of indecision cost him dear. Suddenly, he was in range, and his collar sparked to life.

He collapsed, twitching slightly, then lay still.

Naruto was pale as he looked back at the man who had all but raised him. He _almost_ turned around to try and help, but Yugito grabbed his wrist and forced him forwards, forced him to abandon their companion on the forest floor.

"We can't do anything for him now!" she said, rapidly winding her way through the trees. "We just need to get to the caves. We need to hide!"

"Mirasu!" Naruto whined, his free hand reaching back futilely as if to grab for the unconscious man.

"We have one! Looks like Ferret – his collar just pulsed!"

Tears filled both sets of eyes as the two runners that were left continued without their hind guard. "Just keep going, Kit," Yugito panted. "We can't go back to-"

Naruto nodded as he was shoved in front of the woman, her hands guiding him and shunting him forwards, towards the caves that weren't too far off now.

"One down…" the second Handler's voice reached sensitive ears. "The others can't be too far away. Here, boy! Here, girl!" The Call echoed through the trees.

Naruto flinched. They were close. They were very close. And what was worse, much of himself was screaming that they just return; that they just answer the Call. He gritted his teeth and shook his head to clear the treacherous thoughts. Yugito knew what was best! He wasn't going to abandon her – not ever!

_Well, not unless the Handlers tell you to_… a tiny, unwelcome voice whispered in the back of his mind.

"Run, Kit!" Yugito hissed in his ear, as if sensing his inner turmoil. "Don't think, just run."

Naruto nodded and managed to somehow coax another increase in speed from his tired muscles, and Yugito fell back.

He instantly regretted leaving her when she let out a pained whimper and collapsed, her collar pulsing. She was in range.

"Another collar just lit up!" one of the Handlers announced. "Signature looks like Cat's. So it's just the little one now."

"He won't be hard to find," the other Handler said dismissively. "He's never too far from the others."

Naruto had slowed unconsciously as he hesitated, overwhelming panic threatening to swallow him. Blindly, he did the only thing he could think of and followed Yugito's last order, finding a deep cave and crawling right to the very back of it, tears finally overflowing.

"No, don't make me go back," he whimpered, curling up into a ball and wrapping his arms around his head. "Please don't make me go back there!"

He knew that it was useless. He had already figured out that hiding here was pointless – that they would find him either way. But he was tired and upset and couldn't stand the thought of keeping on running without Yugito and Mirasu, even if he had the energy to do so.

He was just tired now… so tired…

So he sat in the cave and cried. Cried as he heard heavy feet crunch the gravel and leaf litter outside. Cried as the sunlight at the front of the cave was cut off as a person stooped to look in. Cried as that person then turned to his partner and said, "He looks okay. Turn it on."

Naruto just cried as his collar began to buzz and send shock after shock of world-shattering chakra waves through him, jolting his system, fluttering his heart and shutting down his mind.

Unconsciousness was almost welcome.

---

He was home when he woke up.

He returned to the waking world groggily, grudgingly, not entirely willing to come forwards and face the music. His head pounded furiously with the worst sort of headache, his chest ached terribly and he felt sick to his stomach – side effects of the chakra surge.

He let out a pitiful moan as he tried to move a little, feeling the world spin around him as he did so.

"He's awake," a familiar voice said, and Naruto managed to crack open his eyes in time to see one of his Handlers – Tamasine – lean over him, pressing two firm but not rough or cruel fingers under his collar to check his pulse. "Looks to be fine."

"Good," said a second voice, and Naruto felt his heart plummet. He turned his head a little, just enough to see the man who had spoken.

Makoto-sama.

Master.

He was sitting on a comfortable chair beside a table, watching the collared blonde closely. They were indoors, in one of the few rooms Naruto had ever been allowed to enter. Naruto shifted on the cold stone floor and whimpered as Tamasine reached to steady him and accidentally pressed a painful bruise. He didn't even try to maintain eye contact with Makoto-sama, instead dropping his gaze away submissively.

Makoto-sama set his cup carefully down on the table and leant forwards, elbows resting on knees and his hands clasped together before him.

"Come," he said firmly. There was no question as to whom he was talking to. Naruto forced down the ill feeling running through him and sat up, shaking his head to clear it, then scooted the six feet to Makoto-sama and readjusted his posture so he was kneeling respectfully, head bowed and hands splayed on the stone tile floor under him to help keep his balance.

Makoto-sama allowed him a moment, waiting until the blonde child was settled and still, testing his obedience for a few long seconds before he said, "What were you doing?"

Naruto bit his lip but didn't reply. His eyes were fixed on the stone floor, but he still knew that Makoto-sama was leaning forwards, watching him.

"I am very disappointed in you," he said softly. "You know the rules. You know you _must_ stay in your cage unless a human lets you out. So why did you leave?"

Still, Naruto didn't respond. He kept his eyes down and his body still, almost praying that the whole situation would just dissolve.

"Who was it, Kit?" Master was pressing. "I know this wasn't your idea. You're a good pet; I know it wasn't you. Which one was it? Or was it both of the others, planning together?"

Naruto shook his head slightly, in denial, in a refusal to share the name of the person who had sparked the flame of rebellion.

Makoto-sama sighed heavily and leaned back. "Naruto," he said helplessly, shocking the child as he spoke his actual name, "You shouldn't have done it, little one. You know you did the wrong thing, don't you?" Naruto hesitated for a bare second before nodding his shaggy head, once. Makoto-sama ran a hand through his greying hair. "You need to be punished," he decided, slightly regretful as he saw his youngest pet tense up. He didn't _like_ having them beaten, but they needed to learn that breaking the rules had consequences. "Your Handlers… are going to whip you," he decided. He turned his eyes from the now-shivering jinchuuriki brat to Tamasine, adding, "Five lashes without his shirt. Regular whip, across his back."

The man nodded once, indicating his understanding, and Makoto-sama used his foot to nudge the animal at his feet.

"Before I leave, pet," he began in a low voice, "Is there anything you wish to say?"

Naruto bit his lip again, considering. He knew what his master wanted, but would it be honest if he said the expected words now? No, but Naruto decided to risk the lie.

"I am sorry, Master Makoto-sama," he said, his voice wobbly. He flinched when his master's hand touched his head, briefly patting his golden hair.

"I forgive you," Master said simply, and Naruto yelped as his collar was grabbed from behind by Yasuo and he was dragged away, outside to face his punishment.

---

Hours later, it was dark. Naruto was curled up in the middle of a large pile of hay that was the bedding supplied in the wooden box he'd been placed in until their usual enclosure was repaired. It was warm and pitch-black, too dark for him to see even with his sharpened senses.

His back stung dully, the places where the whip had cut through his flesh smarting as they came into contact with the soft hay, but he ignored the feeling. It could have been much worse, and Naruto suspected Master had been going easy on him because of his age again.

Not that he was complaining.

Of course, he did feel a little guilty half an hour later, when the lid of the box was opened and Mirasu and Yugito were both forced in, falling with light thumps onto the hay. He could smell blood on the both of them, and he hesitantly dug himself out of the little hole he'd made in the hay, scrambling closer.

"You okay, Naruto?" was Yugito's first comment. Naruto nodded, even though she couldn't see it.

"Yes," he said simply. "S'only five 'cross my back with a normal whip. You?" He felt her wince as she hugged him gingerly.

"Twenty," she admitted. "Back. Nine-tails. I think Master figured out I was the one behind the whole thing." Naruto made a sympathetic noise and then an inquiring one. "I'm fine. Mirasu?"

"Fifteen," he replied without further prompting, "Wet whip. Chest."

That got twin squeaks of helpless empathy from both his companions. Burying himself in hay again and settling between his two packmates, Naruto couldn't help but wonder why exactly the older two continued to defy their owner. It didn't seem fair. _He_ wantedto be a good pet and obey, but for some reason they – both of them – seemed totally unable to accept their station in life.

_Maybe it's because they _feel_… human_, Naruto mused to himself, a little shocked himself at his outrageous thoughts. _But it's true. I know they don't feel like they're animals… like a dog or a fox or a… but then, does a dog or a fox or a cat or a bird think it is below a human either? Probably not. But they can't accept them as undisputed masters… maybe it's because we _look _like humans? That might be it._

Naruto shook his head, trying to knock the thought away. _I can't be thinking like this. I'll get in trouble_, he fretted childishly, and as if on cue, his back started throbbing worse than before. _I just need to stop and sleep now. Yes. That's it. Sleep._

Closing his eyes in determination, Naruto tried to force his brain into shutting down. But try as he might, he couldn't drop off. Worse, he couldn't stop the little voice in his mind that whispered over and over to him.

_But Mirasu and Yugito say we're human…_


	2. Master's Will

A/N: Those who freak over OCs, please chill; most of them will vanish in this chapter.

---

_Chapter One: Master's Will_

Naruto opened his eyes, blinking sleepily for a moment before stretching like a cat, his hand bumping Yugito where she was curled into a ball a little way away from him. Rubbing at his left eye, Naruto stood up and, brushing hay off his shoulder, slipped out of the doorless shelter and into the more open area of the jinchuuriki enclosure, where only bars separated him from the sky and courtyard where the cage was situated. Well, bars and a chakra barrier that would automatically activate his collar if he attempted to escape or even touch the bars.

The strong silver chain attached to his collar jingled slightly as he walked, stumbling now and again as he tried to wake up. The chain was long, long enough for him to easily reach any area of the enclosure, so it didn't bother him, and the other end was fixed to an iron ring set in the centre of the concrete floor of the cage.

Shaking his head, Naruto reached out and unhurriedly swung himself up the tree that was growing in one corner of their cage, climbing with graceful ease until he was crouching cautiously a foot below the overhead bars to peer up and into the distance. From this position, he could see right over the boundary wall of Master's property and into the Outside World. It was a habit to check every morning what kind of day it was out there.

Today, it looked fine, with achingly blue skies and a hot, dry heat. Like an oven. Naruto's blue-and-red eyes watched a flock of birds take off from the trees and settle by the river a little way away, wishing he could dive into the icy waters as well. It was hot…

"Fox!"

Naruto turned his head around, looking down at the ground to see Tamasine just outside the cage. The man gestured for him, calling, "Come here, boy."

Obediently, Naruto dropped to the ground, a hand reaching up to tug at his sweaty collar irritably. Tamasine entered the cage and was in the process of tipping the jinchuuriki's morning meal into the dish provided for food, shaking his bucket to be sure all the fruit and bran had been dislodged.

He stood back as Naruto promptly plopped down next to the food and began to eat, watching him thoughtfully.

"Where are the others?" he asked. Naruto glanced at him.

"Sleep," he said, his mouth full and his hands sorting through the various bits of fruit he'd been given. "They're tired. Had a fight last night."

"Yes, we heard," Tamasine agreed, sighing. Damn animals, can't get along, screaming and brawling at one a.m.… "Make sure you leave food for them, too. Today Makoto-sama wants you, blondie."

Naruto stopped chewing, his left hand resting on a piece of grapefruit and his right holding a chewed slice of rock melon as he blinked uncomprehendingly at his Handler. Tamasine didn't elaborate – he didn't see the point: smart these animals may be, but there was still no point in explaining complex concepts like the fact that Makoto wanted to test his youngest pet today by running him alone without the others to help him – and instead left, locking the cage securely behind him.

It had been approximately eight years since the escape attempt when the three of them had gotten right up into the mountain ridges. In that time, Makoto had focused on training the youngest one, seeing that the elder two would never truly be the submissive, obedient pets he wanted. The Handlers, Tamasine and Yasuo, both agreed that it was probably because they had been acquired when they were six and nine respectively, and as such had already learnt habits of disobedience and defiance. The youngest one, he'd been bought when he was an infant, so their chance of properly training him was significantly increased.

Several hours after Tamasine had fed the creatures, Makoto gave the order for Yasuo to fetch his favourite little pet, waiting patiently in the stone antechamber that was the single room of his house the animals were allowed to enter for him to be brought in.

Naruto looked understandably nervous, and more than a little curious, as he trailed behind his Handler unquestioningly. Makoto noted that he'd gotten quite tall, and made a mental note to update the fox's profile as the mammal in question knelt before him.

"Naruto," Makoto said, indicating to his pet that he wasn't in trouble through the use of his name, a name he alone of all humans called him by. "I've got a special task for you today. Yesterday, a thief broke into my home and stole from me a set of highly valuable scrolls containing a unique and priceless series of diary entries by the Shodai Kazekage, telling of the creation of Suna. Twelve in total."

Naruto listened dully, knowing that it didn't matter if his face was blank and his eyes unfocused. He knew that these scrolls were one part of a much larger hoard of 'unique and priceless' artefacts his master possessed, and that chances were the man had never even read them. He was a collector, not a scholar or historian. Makoto-sama was a man who loved to own all things rare – the rarer the better. Naruto was living proof of it.

"Pet," Makoto-sama said in a voice that made Naruto snap to attention, even kneeling on the ground as he was. "Your task is to retrieve these scrolls and bring them back to me. This will be your first task all alone, but I have faith in you. It doesn't matter how long you take to find him, but I expect you back within a month."

Naruto blinked slowly, repeating the words to himself. He was being sent out alone… his shoulders twitched in a slight shrug. It's not like the Handlers did anything anyway except watch him when they accompanied him. And this way, he wouldn't have to wait for them to rest and recover whenever they got winded, which happened maddeningly frequently.

"Do you understand what I am asking you to do?" Makoto-sama asked seriously. Naruto dipped his head.

"Yes, Master," he said in a low voice. Makoto-sama nodded.

"Good. Go now. I will see you when you return."

Naruto nodded and his eyes flicked to Yasuo, who gestured him to follow. He didn't stand, opting instead to crawl after his Handler on all fours until he reached the door. Once out of sight of his master, he was able to scramble to his feet and trotted to keep up with the human.

"Come, Naruto," Yasuo snapped over his shoulder, and Naruto followed him across the courtyard to an alcove opposite his cage where a table was set up. On it, a strip of bloody cloth was folded, and Yasuo lifted it gingerly, unceremoniously shoving it into Naruto's face. The blonde flinched a little, but didn't back off, allowing the scent of a stranger's blood fill his nose.

"The thief was hurt by the guards during his escape," Yasuo told him. "This is his blood. Find him and bring back Master's property. Bring back the scrolls with Master's scent."

"Master's scent," Naruto repeated in a monotone, breathing in the smell of the thief deeply to be sure he remembered it. He felt that familiar fire that used to be occasional but now lurked forever just beneath his skin begin to buzz with electricity as he grew excited, the smell of blood and the promise of a chase stirring his heart with some almost frightening instinct. Lifting his head, he caught a whiff of the scent on the wind and made to follow it, preparing to knock down the stone wall in the way, when fingers hooked through his collar and restrained him.

Naruto whined, turning confused eyes to his Handler, who had grabbed him, struggling slightly against him. Yasuo looked resigned as he dragged the hyped half-demon to the gates and shoved him outside, repeating the order. "Track! Bring back Master's scent!"

And Naruto was gone, chasing the ever-so-faint and fast-fading smell of the person who had broken into his master's home.

The thought of disobedience didn't even cross his mind as he dipped his head and breathed in that scent again. He was too well-trained for that. It didn't even occur to him that he could run away and have a whole month to vanish before they even thought about looking for him. If it had, he would have brushed it aside as crazy talk. Right now, his entire focus was that smell, and the coiled lengths of paper he was to retrieve.

---

Tanaka Ren sighed in relief as he splashed water onto his sweaty face. He'd been running for the last fourteen hours with only short breaks to catch his breath, and so far it seemed as if he'd gotten away.

Sinking down to sit next to the cool, running water, Ren reached for his pack and pulled it open. There, sitting innocently in the top of his bag, were twelve scrolls easily worth enough to buy a town and everything in it, people included. Carefully, he wrapped the twelve of them in a length of soft leather and stowed them at the very bottom of the pack, then reaching for his canteen and refilling it from the stream.

With a groan, he stretched a kink out of his back and dug in his pack for his hitai-ate, tying it in place when he found it. Suna's hourglass symbol glinted dully in the light, and Ren flopped backwards, lying on the mossy ground and panting, trying to recover. He _hated_ A-ranks, he decided. Really, he should have just turned this one down. Recovering scrolls stolen from Suna more than twenty years ago? That's just asking for blood, sweat and tears.

Speaking of… Ren checked the bandaging on his arm. No, the wound was fine. It was a shallow one, and he wasn't too worried about it. In fact, his pride was hurt more than his arm. Bloody civilian guards, pulling a fast one on a jounin.

Oh, the shame.

Deciding that, if asked, he'd say he was wounded by a swarm of S-ranked nuke-nin guarding the fortress that he'd had to storm, Ren took another few minutes just to relax and take a break before he sat up and pulled out his map, looking it over. He'd been ordered to be sure that no-one knew he'd come from Suna, which is why he'd run straight for Konoha when he made his escape (serves the tree huggers right) but it was fairly obvious that he wasn't being chased. If he was, the search party had been sent too late. Ren may be many things, but he was excellent at disappearing. No shinobi could possibly track him this far.

Which meant, in a nutshell, he could go home. Mission success. Ren bent over the map, trying to figure out which direction he needed to go in. If he was just on the border of Fire and Tea Country, then he needed to go… ah, there we go.

Grinning, he tucked the map into his pocket for when he (inevitably) got lost and stood up, swinging his pack onto his back and jumping over the stream, setting off at a calm pace, not too hurried but not a dawdle either.

He was ready to get back.

---

Kobayashi Toshi was a patient man. Well, not really. But he _was _a sarcastic one.

"Hey, guys, you think we could go a little slower? I mean, we're practically breaking the sound barrier here," he drawled. They'd been meandering along at a sedate walk for the last hour. His temporary teammate Hyuuga Neji glared at him.

"I have a stomach wound, Toshi!" he snarled. "And we're not needed anywhere. So why hurry?"

Toshi shrugged. "Mostly because I'm bored," he admitted. "'Sides, Sensei said that once I get back from this mission, he'll teach me shunshin no jutsu!"

"If he's so eager to teach you, why did he insist your team get split up and all sent on different missions?" their female companion, a girl named Tenten, asked curiously. Toshi shrugged one shoulder.

"I think he's sick of the blood. Sasuke and I got into this huge fight before we got split – blood flying and everything. And all because I said one little thing about his brother." A long-suffering sigh.

"Was that 'one little thing' designed to insult or upset Sasuke-san, tailored to cause him to lose control in the way you are so good at, Toshi?" Neji asked pointedly. Toshi smirked.

"Maybe. Anyway, Kaka-sensei said we needed some 'cooling-off' time, and so here we are. What's your story?"

"We volunteered," Neji deadpanned. Tenten chuckled.

"We wanted a holiday," she added. Toshi frowned.

"What about a B-ranked mission could _possibly_ be considered a holiday?" he demanded. The other two looked at him in incredulous unison.

"It was a whole week without green spandex and youthful springtimes," Tenten pointed out. Toshi blinked, winced and nodded.

"Ah. I see your point." Toshi, in an uncharacteristic moment of empathy, decided not to press for a faster pace for the duration of this mission.

---

Naruto crouched beside a stream, his head swaying back and forth and he considered the signs that his mark had been there. Then he turned and without hesitation rammed his whole head beneath the surface of the stream, allowing himself a moment of bliss as the running water cooled his hot skin and washed away much of the sweat and grime that had built up.

After a long minute, when his lungs were burning with the need to breathe, Naruto pulled back, breathing deeply and sitting himself in the exact same spot the thief had sat. He'd sat here for a long time: too long for someone who was running away. Naruto could tell by the strength of the scent concentrated in this one spot that this man had lingered for well over an hour.

Cupping his hands, he filled them with water from the stream and lifted them to his lips, drinking quickly to quench his thirst. Then, without hesitation he jumped over the stream and continued to follow the man's trail, only slightly surprised when it veered in a completely different direction to before.

With teeth bared in a snarl borne of concentration, Naruto shot through the trees, occasionally dropping to all fours for a stride or two as he struggled to follow the smell of a man he'd never laid eyes on. _Soon_, every sign told him, _you'll get him soon._

---

Neji slumped against a tree, leaning his head back and closing his eyes and his hand nursed his aching side. He'd misjudged a distance in the fight they'd been in and had come away with a nasty gash and two broken ribs.

They were taking a break in a small clearing, eating ration bars and soldier pills to prepare for their last leg back to Konoha. Tenten was carefully cleaning one of her swords while they waited and Toshi had decided to catch up on the sleep he'd lost last night when that enemy ninja had burst into their room and promptly set it on fire.

…And then there was that thing the night before, with the dam, the explosives, and the consequent tidal wave…

They could afford to relax: they were well and truly in Fire Country. They were safe.

---

Ren crept through the trees, flinching at every forest sound. He was well and truly in Fire Country now: the horrible compromising part of his journey where he actually had to navigate their ally's soil without them finding out that a Suna ninja was illegally inside their borders.

It would have been easier to get a boat straight from Tea Country to Wind Country, but the way things had gone down that hadn't been an option. So here he was.

The sound of movement behind him made him jump and look around, but he couldn't see anything. Stretching out his chakra, he couldn't sense anything either. Still… something was off.

For a long moment, Ren waited, taking in the eerily innocent stillness all around him. There was nothing wrong: the air was still and calm. So why were the hairs at the back of his neck standing on end?

It struck him like a fist to the face. Stillness! He was in a forest, not a desert. There should be, like, birds calling and small rodents merrily spreading their little plagues. But for some reason, there was nothing. Had something scared them off?

On high alert, Ren turned and continued his journey, not even trying to stop his feet from quickening of their own accord.

---

Naruto watched him stop and look around. He was a fairly ordinary person, with nothing notable or unique about his appearance whatsoever. Naruto knew that by tomorrow he wouldn't recognise him by sight. But his scent… that was ingrained in his memory, and now it filled his nose as he drew closer to the thief.

He felt his blood heating, those horrible instincts he hated so much but had been taught to use rising to demand violence.

_Wait,_ he crossly reprimanded the urges, shaking his head to clear it. _Leave me alone! I'm getting there, okay?_

Naruto could feel the creatures in the forest fleeing, as did all creatures (except humans, but Naruto was of the opinion that nine out of ten times, small rodents were rather more sensible creatures than human beings) whenever that horrible heat flushed through his system and bloodlust filled his heart.

Needless to say, Master's home did not have a rat problem.

The thief had begun to run away, dodging through the branches of the big trees that were everywhere, growing thick and tall.

Naruto bared his teeth, final giving in a little to the demands raging through his mind. _Time to start_.

Lurching into action, he dropped onto all fours and raced through the branches, bouncing along the same path that the thief had taken, gaining ground on the spooked-but-unaware man quickly.

A growl rumbled around him, and Naruto took a moment to realise it originated from him, reverberating through his chest.

The thief obviously heard it, because he skidded to a stop and spun, holding a kunai up defensively. His brown eyes fell on the approaching Naruto and his eyes widened. His mouth fell open and then this man, this shinobi, was screaming in terror.

---

Tenten was on her feet before either of the boys had even registered what they were hearing. She stared out into the forest in the direction of the bloodcurdling scream that was echoing towards them. Someone was in trouble.

"What do you suppose that is?" she asked Neji nervously as he moved to stand next to her.

"A teddy bear picnic," Toshi said promptly, pulling on his backpack. "What does it sound like?"

"Shut up," Neji ordered. "Byakugan!"

His bloodline ability activated, and he peered toward where the sound had suddenly cut off.

What he saw made him blanch.

"Well?" Toshi asked impatiently. "What's going on? Huh? Huh, huh, huh? What do you see? Come on, we're getting old here."

"Someone is in trouble. We should help him," Neji decided. By the way that man was moving, he was definitely a shinobi. Tenten nodded and lifted her backpack while Toshi rolled his eyes.

"No, you think? _How _is he in trouble, Oh Mighty Ass?"

"I am not certain. But we should be swift," Neji said in clipped, rather ticked-off tones. Instantly, he and his long-term teammate shot off through the trees, leaving Toshi to trail behind, mumbling, "Yes. Quite. Be impressed with our swift-ness. Man, what a dickhead; I almost miss Sasu-princess. Well, not really…"

---

Ren screamed blue murder as he watched the… the _thing_, the _demon_ race towards him, a haze of shimmering red surrounding it like a chakra cloak, its energy scorching the greenery around it a deadened black colour.

So he screamed like a little girl. He'd never seen anything like this before. Even Suna's resident psycho demon-host, a boy named Gaara, had nothing on this kid. The sheer _power_ rolling off him in waves was enough to almost make him wet himself.

So, he did the only sensible thing anyone would do in such a situation. He turned and ran.

Racing through the trees, his heart pounding in his mouth and enough adrenaline to fill a pool being pumped out of his adrenal glands, he hightailed it through the trees, heedless of the twigs and thorns that caught at his clothes. He knew that the demon was gaining on him, and fear flickered through him. Was he going to die? Was the demon going to eat him? Suddenly all those fairytales his brother had told him when he was a kid seemed not so far-fetched. This certainly looked like one of the hell-bent demons that Aki had insisted riddled Fire Country.

Ren felt a horrifying jerk and a sharp pain burned itself across his back. He cried out, stumbling as he missed his next step. The backpack he was wearing tore, and he felt it fall away from his back, but that didn't matter.

He was bleeding: the demon had slashed him across his shoulders. It was too fast for him to outrun. Was this the end?

Was… was he going to die?

---

Neji, Tenten and Toshi observed the frightening creature that was chasing down a strange ninja.

"Um… what do we do?" Toshi asked in a low voice. "I don't want to fight… _that_. It's… scary."

At that moment, the demon caught up to his prey and slashed at him. Neji's sharp eyes spotted that he was holding a kunai knife, but his claws would indicate he didn't really need it. The kunai bit into the man's shoulders, and the claws on the demon's other hand curled into his backpack and _pulled_.

Unfortunately for the creature, its own attack had cut one of the straps, and the other tore under his strength.

The ninja shot away while the demon slowed, considering the backpack in his hand, no doubt confused. Now was the time to stop it.

"Tenten," he said, making the girl jump. "Do you have a weapon laced with a poison that will knock it out?" he asked. She nodded instantly, reaching for her pouch and pulling out several senbon.

"These are laced with tranquiliser," she reported. Neji nodded.

"Make sure you hit it where the drug will spread quickly," he said, nodding at the creature.

An instant later, a single senbon arched through the air and struck the odd _thing_ in the chest; a perfect hit.

"I hope that'll do it," she said quietly.

The demon reached up a hand, human-esc face looking hurt and confused as it touched the obviously-painful needle that had struck near the heart. Before he could do more than pull it out and hold it up to look at it in confusion, he jerked and began to shake before slumping forwards.

Toshi made to step forwards, but Neji put out his hand and stopped him. "Wait. Let us be sure he is well and truly asleep."

A tense five minutes trickled by, during which the unconscious creature did nothing more than lay limp on the broad branch of a tree.

Eventually, Toshi broke the silence.

"Well, this is exciting," he said sarcastically. Tenten frowned at him, and lead the way forwards, towards the stranger.

His – it was definitely a he – left hand was still clutching the backpack, but as the drug took a greater hold on him, gradually the frightening red aura that had surrounded him diminished. His appearance seemed to tame, until he looked only a little wild. Toshi mentally likened it to Inuzuka Kiba changing from his Man Beast form back to his normal state.

Tenten cautiously reached out and brushed away a lock of his tangled, filthy blonde hair. "He… looks human!" she exclaimed. "Do you think he's…"

"Yes," Neji said, examining the body with his Byakugan, "He's human. But whatever that… whatever charka he was using, it wasn't natural. I've never seen anything like this before."

"What should we do?" Toshi asked sensibly, poking the unconscious boy with his toe. Tenten elbowed him. Neji considered.

"He could be a valuable source of information to Konoha," he said eventually. "We will take him back. Toshi, bind him."

"Aw, man, why do I have to do it? Damn, you're just like Sasu-princess, always making me do everything…" Dissolving into grumbles, Toshi bent down and began to loop wire around the pliant body, securing the boy who seemed, now that he looked, around his own age.

"Okay," he said, hoisting the body over his shoulder. "Let's go home."


	3. Strangers Like Me

_Chapter Two: Strangers Like Me_

Naruto opened his eyes groggily, his hand reaching to rub at his arm, which felt for some unfathomable reason like it had been pricked a dozen times with senbon, and rolled over, curling into a ball to continue sleeping.

In the brief half-second his eyes had been open he'd glimpsed a set of silver bars, and so assumed he was safe back home, bundled into his cage.

But he was cold. And the concrete below him was hard and bare. Where was his nice warm hay? His Handlers wouldn't have let him fall asleep outside… and anyway, he could sense that he was indoors.

And now he listened, where was the ever-present buzz of chakra flowing through the cage bars? And where were the scents of the others? If they had been taken out, he wouldn't hear them breathing, but he should still be able to smell their lingering scent.

His mind was gradually becoming clearer the more he thought – not something that happened often. How had he gotten back in the first place? He'd been out alone, with no Handlers to drag his unconscious ass back home if he screwed up. He'd been chasing the thief… the man had been running from him… Naruto's bloodlust had spiked when he'd heard his terrified scream, and he'd been unable to resist slashing at the man a little more violently than was necessary in his attempt to steal his backpack… He'd gotten Master's scrolls back – he could smell them inside the backpack… The backpack!

A jolt ran through him, but he was (unfathomably) still half-asleep. Even so, he forced himself upright and looked around, going still and shrinking down into himself as he realised that this was in no way, shape or form his cage.

It was a bare square of bars, set in the centre of a stone room. Outside, there was a single plastic chair, and nothing else. Naruto had to fight down a moment of panic, and cast his eyes around, biting his lip when he realised the backpack (and Master's scrolls) were gone. He focused his mind, trying to think.

He'd had the backpack. Then, there was a sharp pain in his chest, right near his heart, and he'd looked down to find a senbon sticking out of his shirt. He'd yanked it out and suddenly began to feel really dizzy… and then, next thing he knew, he was here.

A sudden suspicion struck him and Naruto looked down at his itchy-sore right arm. A half-dozen red puncture wounds dotted his limb, obviously from the same sort of weapon. Most of them were almost healed, but there was one that looked fresh: clearly it had been made less than half an hour ago.

His suspicions were confirmed as he dipped his head and licked the most recent wound, tasting traces of bitterness as he did so.

He'd been drugged. But by who, and for what purpose?

He jerked his head up as his sharp ears caught the sound of voices outside the door, murmuring to each other. They were unfamiliar to him, and he felt his heart begin to pound with just a touch of fear as he tuned into the conversation taking place just outside the shut wooden door.

"…is waking up," a female voice said.

"He… given three times… recommended dose… tranquiliser," a male voice responded. Naruto could only hear bits and pieces of their sentences, but he managed to deduce that they were talking about him.

"…going to do with him?"

"We're… talk… see if he's…"

"Do… think it's really…"

"I… know. We'll… see."

Naruto jumped violently as the door crashed open and a male and female human entered the room. He instantly back up, edging as close as he dared to the back of the cage without actually touching the bars.

The woman, a busty, grinning creature smelling faintly of snakes and soap leaned close, peering through the bars at the prisoner.

"He's a cutie, isn't he?" she smirked, blowing purple bangs off her face.

"Anko, leave him be. You're not allowed to flirt with the kid," the male sighed. The woman pouted, but he ignored her as he crouched, getting on the same level as the cowering Naruto and speaking quietly.

"Hey. It's okay, don't be frightened. I'm sorry – we didn't expect you to wake up so soon. Someone is fetching you something to eat now. Do you know where you are?"

Naruto shook his head, eyes darting between the man and the floor so as not to offend the human.

"You're in Konoha. I'm Morino Ibiki, and you've been put in one of our interrogation rooms for the time being. Sorry about this, but you know… can't be too careful."

Naruto frowned a little. He wasn't sure what exactly the strange man was apologising about, and thought maybe it could be the tranquiliser. Then again, who knew? Humans were weird.

"What's your name?" the man was saying. Naruto tilted his head and looked him straight in the eye for the first time, and Ibiki found himself pinned with the red-ringed blue gaze.

"…Naruto," the child said eventually, breaking eye contact. Ibiki caught himself before he could sigh in relief, then froze as the name registered.

"Naru-" he choked, shocked despite the suspicion he'd already had. The ANBU he'd sent to fetch food chose that moment to arrive, and Ibiki latched onto the distraction to give his brain time to adjust. "Here," he said, placing a bowl of hot stew and a piece of buttered bread on the floor inside the cage by reaching through the bars. It wasn't the best meal, but it would do.

He backed away, and Naruto cautiously moved forwards, but frowned and didn't so much as touch the food when he saw what it was. He once again tipped up his head to look Ibiki dead in the eyes.

"What do I do with this?" he asked flatly. Ibiki raised an eyebrow.

"It's food," he pointed out. Naruto sighed.

"Yes, I know. It's human food. So what do you want me to do with it?" The question was delivered in a slightly irritated tone.

Ibiki felt his heart freeze for a moment. Surely the kid didn't eat like a demon… right?

"What do you mean, 'human food'?" he asked. "What do you usually eat? Isn't it something like this?"

Naruto shook his head. He was getting annoyed. Why was this human taunting him? It made no sense.

"It's human food, meaning it is food for humans," he said sulkily, knowing that it wasn't worth his hide to growl. "I'm not allowed to – I mean, I don't eat human food. I'm a jinchuuriki."

Ibiki hesitated. That was interesting… but he would much prefer to alert the Hokage to the fact that it seemed Uzumaki Naruto was back than discuss his eating habits… right now.

"Well, this is all we have. So you can eat it if you want. Um, I need to leave now, but someone will be back to speak with you shortly."

Naruto shrugged, sitting on the floor and dipping his fingers into the stew curiously, totally ignoring the chopsticks provided, the man already dismissed in his mind as he focused solely on the interesting food.

Ibiki sighed heavily as he left the room. Why did these things always happen on _his_ shift?

* * *

Sarutobi chewed his lower lip in a rare display of anxiousness as he peered through the one-way mirror that showed the cell the captive was being kept in. He certainly _looked_ the part – the similarities were striking, and it made Sarutobi's heart ache with a sort of grieving hope.

"Are you sure?" he asked in a low voice, not taking his eyes off the boy who was sitting in the centre of the cage that was built into the cell, happily making a game of his empty stew bowl and bread plate and making not even the slightest attempt to examine his prison, much less escape.

"Yessir," Ibiki, standing beside him, said instantly. "The demonic chakra… and he said his name… and the way he looks… there's no doubt about it. It's him."

"We'll have to do a DNA test, to convince the council," Sarutobi mused, eyes misting over as he watched the boy – _Naruto_ – attempting to balance the plate on its rim and laughing when it fell over with a resounding clatter.

"What will you do with him?" Ibiki asked. The old man sighed.

"I don't know," he confessed. "I never thought I'd see him again. I was sure he was dead."

"We all were," Ibiki put in, not liking the self-blame inflections in his Hokage's voice.

"When he disappeared…" Sarutobi shook his head. "There is no way he survived on his own. He was just a baby. Someone must have raised him. The question is, who? And why? And why has he returned home now?"

"Sir, I think you should see something," Ibiki said, rummaging through a sheaf of papers until he found a photograph that had been taken of the child when he was brought in earlier. "I don't believe he was _raised_, per se. Look here." With his finger, he tapped the picture before handing it over to the suddenly still Hokage.

"A collar?" the Sandaime murmured, his voice not betraying the horror he felt. Ibiki nodded.

"Also, when I offered him food, he didn't even entertain the idea of eating it because, I quote, 'it's human food'. When questioned, he told me that he was a jinchuuriki and didn't eat human food – I'm sure he was going to say he wasn't allowed to before he cut himself off."

Sarutobi closed his eyes, a wave of sorrow sweeping over his old heart. _Minato… what have they done to your son?_

"What was he doing when he was captured?" he asked out loud. "The chuunin who reported told me he had been chasing an as of yet unidentified shinobi."

"They told me the same," Ibiki reported. "Apparently, he'd stolen this when they managed to sedate him." He lifted a shredded backpack from a nearby wooden table and held it out to the Hokage. Sarutobi swept his eyes over it and sighed.

"Alright. I'll speak to him. I want you to have a team go over that pack, in case he was after it and not the shinobi. And tell Anko that she's not allowed near him – I think he's been through enough already without having to suffer her."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Ibiki said, smiling slightly. Sarutobi took a deep breath and opened the door leading into the cell.

The child in the cage looked up and the Sandaime was suddenly struck by the colour of bright blue eyes encircled by red, and his gut clenched. _Kyuubi_… That sort of change could only be caused by the demon. Even now, Sarutobi could sense traces of that dreadful chakra he hated and feared so much, tainting the boy's familiar natural chakra that was so much like his father's.

In an instant, any lingering doubts Sarutobi had disappeared. This could only be the child he had lost so long ago.

"Naruto?" he said quietly, coming closer and sitting in the plastic chair just outside the cage.

Naruto watched him carefully, but his eyes had dropped so that he was staring at the old man's chest rather than looking him directly in the eye. The plate he'd managed to balance wobbled and fell with a resounding clatter. He didn't move. Sarutobi decided to move on.

"My name is Sarutobi. I am the Sandaime Hokage. Do you know what that means?" Naruto shook his head wordlessly, now looking at his knees. "It means I am the leader of this village, Konohagure. I… don't suppose you remember me?"

Again, Naruto shook his head, not responding or even moving in any other way. Sarutobi sighed.

"I suppose not. You were very young last time you saw me, after all. Just a baby, really."

A long pause, before Naruto finally said something. He spoke in a dull, almost sulky and definitely resigned voice as he said, "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?" Sarutobi prompted. Naruto shrugged one shoulder.

"Why am I here? Where is Master? What do you want with me?"

Sarutobi leant forwards. "Well, we don't know," he said, watching Naruto carefully. "Who is this… master? Where does he live?" Naruto frowned at the floor.

"Don't you know?" he asked. Sarutobi was surprised.

"…Should I?" he asked cautiously. He blanched at the next, casually spoken words.

"Well, didn't you sell me to him? I take it you are my first Master, if you are the leader of the Leaf Village."

"Sell you?" the Sandaime repeated incredulously, "Why would I…?" Naruto shrugged.

"My Handlers told me that I was sold to Master when I was nearly two, by a man from the place I was bred," he replied lightly, as if it was no big deal. Then again, Sarutobi reminded himself, it probably wasn't to the blonde.

"Bred? Naruto, what are you talking about? You weren't _bred_, you were… Naruto, you are a child of Konoha, not some object to be _sold_!" Sarutobi was horrified. Had Minato's son been raised as a slave this whole time?

Naruto tipped his head up and met his gaze for a moment, eyes alight with amusement. "You don't know much, do you, old man? I think you're confused. I am not one of you – not a human. I am a jinchuuriki. An animal. I'm a… a pet. Master's pet."

As the words delivered in the most matter-of-fact tone imaginable washed over him, the Hokage's horror increased exponentially. _What… what the hell has happened to this child?_ he shouted in his mind, frozen in his seat. The boy might have been saying his hair was blonde from his tone.

Naruto watched the elderly human with concern. _I hope he's not having a heart attack or something,_ he mused. _I don't want him to die on me. That'd be a pain._

Eventually, the stranger un-stuck himself and leant forwards. "Naruto…" The blonde could clearly hear the pain in his voice. "You… you really believe… that you are nothing more than an… an animal?"

Naruto sighed. This was going in ever-increasingly-irritating circles. "Is this some kind of a test, sir?" he asked dryly. "I know my place. What do you want with me? Did I stray into a forbidden zone? Or were you just rounding up a stray? I assure you, I was out with my Master's full knowledge and permission. I was searching for something that belonged to him."

"Several of my shinobi saw you attack another man," Sarutobi managed to drag his mind back on track. Naruto nodded.

"Yes, I did. He was a thief, and I attacked him to relieve him of the stolen goods. I was then to return them to Master."

"Who is your… your master?" the Sandaime almost choked on the word. Naruto hesitated, then reached up to touch the metal band circling his neck.

"ID's on my collar," he said.

Sarutobi hesitated, then made a careful gesture with his hand, indicating for the child to come forwards. Naruto instantly obeyed, crawling towards the bars of the cage. Sarutobi noted he stopped well clear of them: at least ten inches away: and turned so that he was sitting with his back to the old man.

The Hokage leant forwards. Screwed to the collar, sitting neatly on the back of Naruto's neck, was a small rectangular plate on which words were carefully engraved. Sarutobi frowned and read them quickly.

_Property of Nakamura Makoto_

_Demon: Nine Tailed Fox, Fire Element_

_Sealed day of birth, 10 Oct 1074_

_Gender: Male_

_Origin: Konoha_

_Name: Naruto_

Sarutobi sat back in his chair, horror and a broad measure of guilt rising up. Here was the precious son of his successor and friend, wearing a collar and nametag like an animal, proclaiming him the property of another man. And worse, he _didn't seem to mind_.

For a moment, he closed his eyes and let the emotions rage through him. Images swam before him, memories from the past.

…Minato, grinning, gesturing him into his office to burst forth with the news that _he was going to be a father_…

…Jiraiya, jumping into his house, knocking over his painting canvas as he announced that Minato was going name his son after a _character from his book_…

…The Kyuubi ravaging the village, Minato's teary but set face as he lifted his newborn son – _Naruto_ – from his crib and strode out to meet it…

…Kushina, holding the child three days later as she died from complications…

…The horrible day the alarm went out that the Kyuubi child had been stolen, sending out squad after squad of ANBU to find him, who all came up negative…

…The funeral without a body, performed at Sarutobi's insistence, attended only by his family despite the fact that the whole village was invited, Hatake Kakashi turning up as everyone was leaving to pause at the headstone and then disappear…

"…Maybe it's a stroke?" A voice cut through the swirling memories and Sarutobi opened his eyes to see Naruto kneeling, still a respectful distance from the bars of the cage, waving his hand to try and get his attention and talking steadily, seemingly to himself. "Or it could be, like, a seizure, or something. Come on, old man, don't be dead. That could be hard to explain. Don't be dead, don't be dead. Please?"

"I'm not dead, Naruto," the Hokage was quick to assure him, "But I think we have a problem."

The blonde head tipped and wide eyes looked at him questioningly before lowering passively. Sarutobi squashed the pained feeling at seeing such obvious submission and his mind quickly formulated the best strategy for keeping this child in Konoha, where he belonged. The Hokage had no intention of ever returning him to this 'Master Makoto'.

"You see, you were not sold as an infant, you were stolen," Sarutobi said coolly. "By a bounty hunter, and then, presumably sold on the black market. We have been searching for you for thirteen years. As such, you are legally ours."

Naruto looked confused, his brow furrowed as he tried to understand.

"What?" he whined, shaking his head, "That's crazy! Why can't Master be Master and that's that? This is complicated! Humans are weird! I always thought that Master's my master… I have to go back to him! I have to! I have to get the scrolls and bring them back! I _have _to!"

Sarutobi held up his hands placatingly. "It will take us some time to sort this mess out," he said calmly. "I tell you what: why don't we compromise. For now, you will stay here without complaint. Once a week, we will reward your compliance with one of the twelve scrolls you need. Once you have them all, we will escort you home."

Naruto hesitated. "Master said I had to be back in a month…" he began uncertainly. Sarutobi twitched his shoulders.

"Well, we will see. In four weeks' time, I will review the situation. Are we agreed?"

Naruto paused briefly, considering, before nodded. "Very well. I will serve you in return for Master's possessions."

"Good." Sarutobi stood up. "I will send someone to bring you to your new home shortly. I think I will put you with one of my jounin, and he can look after you for the duration of your stay."

"Um… sir?" Naruto said cautiously, eyes down, "Will this person… be my Handler? Trainer? Um, tamer? Whatever word you use here?"

Sarutobi nodded – that was obviously the only guardian-like role this deprived boy understood. "Yes, child. I will see you soon. Until then."

Highly disconcerted by the way Naruto instantly bowed low at the obvious dismissal, the old man left the room, meeting eyes with a horrified Ibiki.

"Find me Hatake Kakashi," he said flatly.

* * *

At that exact moment, Hatake Kakashi was wondering what in nine levels of hell was he _thinking_ when he accepted this genin – now chuunin – team. His left hand was planted on the chest of a straining Toshi, his right firmly grasping Sasuke's collar. Neither boy was paying a single iota of attention to their teacher as Sasuke snarled insults and Toshi tried to get near enough to clock the Uchiha.

Sakura, the third (and most controllable) member of the team, was sitting on the grass nearby, watching the three-way struggle with resigned boredom.

"It would appear your 'split us up and cool us off' tactic didn't work, Sensei," she commented. Kakashi shot her a look and turned his attention back to the warring boys.

"That – is – ENOUGH!" he bellowed the last word, raising his voice for the first time in… a very long time. Both boys found themselves falling backwards as they were each shoved hard in the chest, and landed on their respective rears in time to see Kakashi look extremely pissed off.

"For the love of all things holy!" Kakashi raged. "You two are pathetic! You're _supposed_ to be shinobi! Chuunin, for Pete's sake! And here you are brawling like school children! Sasuke, I guarantee your brother never wasted energy and time insulting his teammates like that, regardless of whether they deserved it, and _if_ you want to catch him up and kill him, I _suggest_ you take a leaf out of his book! Toshi, all I can say is your father would be ashamed of you."

Both boys looked shocked at this furiously delivered lecture, and the expression slowly faded to be replaced with varying levels of shame.

"But he started-" Toshi began to protest.

"Finish that sentence, Toshi, and I'll haul your ass right back to preschool," Kakashi threatened. "Gah! You three are driving me insane! I have no idea _how_ you managed to pass my bell test in the first place. Believe it or not, you three once had potential to work together, but things seem to have been degrading these last few months. Does someone want to tell me what happened, hmm?"

The jounin looked from one boy to the other, noting the way both of them had averted their gaze and were staring mutinously at the grass of the training field. Silence stretched, and finally Kakashi gave in. Sighing heavily, he sank down to sit on the grass, joining his students.

"Fine. Toshi, Sasuke, you two are paired up today. If you won't get along, I'll _make_ you work together until you _find _a way to get along. Sakura, you're dismissed."

Sakura nodded and stood, gathering her things and leaving, deciding to head to the hospital and work an extra shift or two before some training. Left behind, the three male members of team seven spent a few moments glaring at each other before Kakashi's eye arched in a smile and he clapped his hands.

"Right," he said brightly, "Let's get to work!"

Half an hour later, a chuunin dropped into the training field from a nearby tree. "Kakashi-sempai," he said.

"Kinda busy," Kakashi said, blocking a clumsy blow from Sasuke and tripping Toshi, sending both teens tumbling to the ground and struggling to stand back up, a task made significantly harder by the fact that their left arms and right legs were bound together securely, leaving them back-to-back and peeved.

"It's important. Hokage-sama needs to see you _now_," the chuunin stressed. Kakashi sighed and fell out of his fighting stance.

"Very well. We'll pick this up tomorrow, then. In the mean time, I suggest you two spend some time together. Talk. Bond. Work out whatever problem it is that has you both acting like twelve year old girls PMS'ing. Ja ne!"

And he disappeared in a twist of smoke. The chuunin hesitated, watching his cursing fellow chuunin for a moment, before offering a lame, "Uh, see you," and ran.

After a moment, both boys stopped struggling, and there was silence for a good three minutes.

"Damn, I hate Sensei," Toshi grumbled. Sasuke grunted in agreement.

* * *

Kakashi sat down hard. Sarutobi watched him with concern as the three inches of visible skin of his face turned white as rice paper, and his grey eye lost its perpetually bored look.

"H… how?" he said eventually. "How can he still be alive?"

Sarutobi sighed. He had just broken the news that Uzumaki Naruto had returned, and he was not looking forward to explaining the nature of his upbringing.

"It seems… the bounty hunter we found out had taken him, you remember?" Kakashi growled: of course he remembered. "Well, it turns out that instead of killing him, this man sold him. Naruto has been serving a man named Nakamura Makoto since then."

There was a pause.

"He was a _slave_?!" Kakashi hissed, and Sarutobi sighed at the killer intent rolling off him. Just wait until he knew the whole story…

"Not quite," he said, and began to explain rapidly, filling the jounin in on everything the Hokage had learnt. When he was done, there was silence in the Hokage's office.

"So… he honestly thinks… he's an… animal?" Kakashi was obviously having a hard time with the thought. Sarutobi nodded.

"Yes. That is part of the reason I'm giving him to you to guard. I know you'll look after him, and do your best to show him the truth, and you won't sell him out. Also, you won't take advantage of his current mentality, and you possess the means and skill to protect him from those who would."

Kakashi shook his head, running a gloved hand over his head. "I should have figured you wanted to hook me up with yet another emotionally screwed child. Do you know how infuriating my current team is? And that's without adding a new, highly confused one into the mix."

"I've heard a rumour or two," Sarutobi said lightly. "I understand if you don't wish to do this, Kakashi. You're busy. You have a lot on your plate at the moment. You don't have time for Minato's son, especially now that he needs so much care and attention." The Hokage was amused to watch Kakashi wilting before his very eyes, and added the final, deciding sentence. "I suppose I can hand him to an ANBU… they should have sufficient skill… Danzou was interested in him even before this happened, when he was a baby – I could ask him, I suppose…"

"I'll do it, where is he?" Kakashi said instantly. Sarutobi chuckled.

"Go get him," he said to one of the hidden ANBU in the room. The ANBU left, invisibly, and the Hokage focused again on the jounin. "He'll be taken to your apartment," he said. "I don't want to parade him through town bringing him here, and then again to get to your home. This way, ANBU can move him discretely. You will be allowed an open account to purchase anything you need for him. Do not hesitate to spend as much as you need on anything – including food, clothing, bedding, toys and anything else you think of. You will be allowed a wage for acting as caregiver and board for his room." Best to make this official, with official pay. "Look after him, Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded and bowed slightly. "Yes, sir." He paused for a beat, and then said, "I have that spare room in my apartment – it can be transformed into a bedroom."

Sarutobi nodded. "You go back to your chuunin," he ordered. "I will have a basic room set up, and Naruto delivered to your apartment. You can go from there. Give us a few hours to get sorted. Oh, and do untie your boys sooner or later."

Kakashi had stood and bowed slightly, and was already halfway out the door. He flicked his fingers over his shoulder and called, "Won't be sooner: might be later," and vanished.

* * *

Three hours later, Kakashi pushed the door to his apartment open with a good measure of uncertainty. His heart was thumping painfully despite his attempts to calm it. This was Sensei's son… it was like getting a little bit of Sensei back.

An ANBU was standing guard outside the door of the spare room, and he snapped to attention as Kakashi appeared in the hallway. In spite of everything, Kakashi smirked. He still had it…

"Report," he ordered quietly, coming level with the man in the white porcelain mask.

"The child has been quiet," came a voice form behind the beaver pattern. "He has been settled for a little more than half an hour. "Sir, you may be surprised to see him, if you have not seen him before now. Also… he has been bound."

"Why?" Kakashi asked sharply. "Was he struggling? Trying to run?" The ANBU shook his head.

"No, sir. It's just, he was so confused, bordering on distressed, we thought he needed something… familiar. He was asking for… you'll understand when you talk to him."

Kakashi seriously considered punching the guy, but decided he should speak to the kid first. "You and your teammates can go," he said dismissively. "I've got it from here."

The ANBU nodded and hightailed it away, not really wanting to stay near the creepy child or scary ex-ANBU captain a second longer than absolutely necessary.

Once he was sure he was alone, Kakashi took a deep breath, leaning against the door to steady himself. He could sense the chakra in the room, a frightening trace of Kyuubi combated by chakra that was a comfortingly close match to Sensei's.

Taking a moment to gather his courage, Kakashi steeled himself and pushed open the door.

The place had been dusted, and all the old stacks of newspaper and cardboard storage boxes had vanished, probably stacked neatly in the closet. A futon was by the wall opposite, folded for the day.

Someone blonde was sitting on the hardwood floor, directly in a beam of sunlight streaming in from the window, playing some game with a leaf and an empty cup. Kakashi felt a surge of anger when he saw a _dog leash_, of all things, clipped to the metal collar around the boy's throat and threaded through the radiator, keeping him in place.

Then, the blonde looked up, meeting Kakashi's gaze, and the jounin took a step back. Despite the red in his blue eyes, despite the whisker marks on his cheeks, he looked so much – so _much_ like – like –

And then it _was_ him, it was Sensei sitting there calmly; abused, submissive, _collared_ like an _animal_.

With two quick strides, he'd crossed the room and was reaching for that leash, unclipping it with hands that were certainly _not_ shaking, letting it fall against the radiator with a clank. It took a glance to see that he couldn't remove the collar easily: it seemed to be some sort of chakra-sensitive alloy, and would only respond to a predetermined person's chakra.

It took a surprising amount of effort to step away again, instead of fruitlessly struggling to get the damnable metal ring _off off off_.

The child – teenager, fifteen, not really a child anymore – looked up at him cautiously, obviously very insecure. Kakashi stared at him for a long moment, before bits and pieces of the Sandaime's speech came back to him.

"_You'll have to treat him as something below you, Kakashi – at least at first. He's not used to being treated as a human. You need to be his authority, to begin with, and we can work from there."_

Okay… so… where did that leave him? He had to speak to this kid like he wasn't a kid. Yeah. Okay.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi." That was a good place to start, right? A name is always a good starting point. "I've been assigned to look after you."

Naruto glanced up, searching his mostly-hidden face very briefly before dropping his gaze to the ground.

"You… are my Handler, while I'm here?" he asked hesitantly. Kakashi winced.

"Y-yes." He almost choked on the word. _Sensei, I'm sorry…_

The sick feeling of guilt grew at the relief on Naruto's face – evidently it was a weight off the blonde's mind now that he knew who he answered to. Kakashi found himself watching Naruto uncomfortably, unsure what to do next.

For Naruto, sitting still was becoming a problem. He _knew _he had to stay still and keep his eyes _down_ until his Handler gave an order or left, but he had a lot of energy, and he'd been still and quiet for hours. He began to fidget slightly, occasionally shifting his weight or twisting his hands on his lap.

Kakashi watched this, easily figuring out what was going through the boy's mind. Suddenly, he wanted Them _off_ Sensei's son: Their dirt, Their clothes, Their _taint_, all of it had to be gone.

"Naruto," he said, noting the way the blonde stiffened at the name, "Come with me. I want you to have a bath, and I'm going to find you some new clothes to wear."

Naruto was frowning, as if he didn't quite understand, but he nodded and stood up obediently. "Yessir."

Kakashi winced again. "Don't… don't call me sir, Naruto. Just call me Kakashi."

Naruto's eyes flashed up to meet his for a split second, and Kakashi read the horrible confusion present there, before he looked down at his feet again and said cautiously, "Yes… Kakashi-sir."

Kakashi sighed.

"Come with me," he said, abandoning the fight for now. He hated the way Naruto fell in step behind him, exactly three paces back, and led him quickly to the bathroom, opening the door and gesturing him inside.

Naruto entered carefully, looking around in wonder.

"What is this place?" he asked, peering into a glass cubicle with funny metal bits n the wall and a lingering smell of soap and water.

"Haven't you ever seen a bathroom before?" Kakashi-sir sounded strained, but Naruto was too busy exploring this new place to really pay much notice. He shook his head as he examined a weird object that _looked_ like a human seat, but had more water flowing through it.

"I'm not allowed inside. None of Master's pets are," he said matter-of-factly. "Yah!"

He jumped about a foot in the air and fell over, backing away until he banged into Kakashi-sir's legs, and quickly scooted around to hide behind them, before pointing at the box-thing fixed to the wall above what he _thought _was a sink, though he'd never seen one so small before.

"There's a person in there!" he hollered.

Kakashi was staring at the blonde, horror growing steadily worse. What kind of life had this kid _had_?!

"It's not a person," he found himself saying, looking down and behind at Naruto's spooked eyes. Naruto frowned.

"I _saw_ him!" he wailed. "There's _someone_ there!"

"Get up, come look," Kakashi ordered softly, moving to the mirror set in the doors of his medicine cabinet. Naruto crept along behind him, more curious than frightened now. Kakashi stood and looked at his reflection, seeing in the mirror how Naruto looked, squeaked and ducked away, before peering cautiously around his shoulder again.

"This is a mirror," Kakashi said, still in that soft, almost autopilot voice. "It shows you your reflection. This is not another person, it's you and me. See: that is me," he pointed at his own reflection, seeing it point back, "And that is you. That's what you look like."

"What I… look like?" Naruto echoed, leaning around Kakashi to get a better view. "That's… me? My reflection? Like in puddles?"

"Like in puddles," Kakashi agreed. "You – you've never been in a bathroom? How do you bathe?"

Naruto shrugged. "My Handlers hose us down from time to time," he offered, "And once a season we swim through dip. It's gross."

Kakashi closed his eye briefly at the image, then sighed and resigned himself to an uphill battle. Watching Naruto begin to play with his reflection, growing steadily more delighted, Kakashi resolved to give him a few moments before attempting the next hurdle: a shower.


	4. Of Water, Soap And Breaking And Entering

Chapter Three: Of Water, Soap, and Breaking And Entering

Sasuke gritted his teeth and yanked on his right arm. He got it all the way around to his front before it was torn back by the jerk tied behind him, who then hollered, "We've been _through _this, Princess! My arm doesn't _bend _that way!!"

"Well, we have to do something! Suck it up and let me make a handseal, and we'll be out of this mess!" Sasuke snapped back. Toshi gave a fake gasp.

"Oh, _wonderful_ plan! Brilliant! Except, and I think we've covered this previously, my arm doesn't _bend_ that far! _You're_ the girly one; _you _should be more flexible. How come _you're _not volunteering to let _me_ bend your arms 'till they snap like uncooked spaghetti?"

"Tch," Sasuke flipped his head to get his hair out of his eyes. Toshi sniggered.

"I thought so."

"Well, we have to do _something_."

"Are you guys still out here?" Both boys snapped their heads around to see Sakura standing a little way off, an eyebrow raised. "Jeez, what'd Sensei _do _to you?" she said, taking in the pair of them.

"Sakura! Help us out, here!" Toshi shouted. The pink-haired girl gave an incredulous chuckle.

"I don't think so," she said regally, "Sensei obviously left you tied up like this so you could figure out how to get loose on your own. Besides, I'm as tired of the fighting as he is."

"What?!" Toshi yelped, struggling beginning anew. Conversely, Sasuke stilled, fixing Sakura with a deadly glare.

"Sakura," he said in a very dangerous voice that promised death in the near future if she didn't heed him, "Untie us."

Sakura hesitated, but was still firm in her resolve as she shook her head. "Nope. Sorry, Sasuke-kun: I like you and all, but Sensei's scarier."

"You're supposed to be our teammate!" Toshi hollered. "What happened to that whole 'undying love for Sasuke-kun' crap you've been spouting for the last _three years_?! If you really loved him, you wouldn't leave him tied up and helpless!"

Sakura sighed. "You don't get it. It's because I love him that I'm leaving him tied up. It's for his own good. You two _have _to learn to get along."

There was a moment's silence: Sasuke was thinking hard, not really minding the conversation about him going on as if he wasn't there. Then, inspiration hit him and he said in a serious, bewitching voice, "Sakura, let us free, and I'll take you out on a date."

Toshi watched Sakura's resolve falter, and she hesitated, teetering on the edge. He crossed his fingers as best he could in his position, but his hopes were shattered a moment later when the pink-haired girl shook her head firmly and said, "Sorry, but Sensei's still scarier. And he said not to free you. Um, I gotta go."

And she left, before she could change her mind. There was a pause, and Toshi swore.

"We'll, we're screwed."

"Hn. I thought that would work," Sasuke admitted. Toshi barked out a laugh.

"Sensei must've done a number on her, alright," he half-laughed. Then he sobered. "So… what are we going to do?"

For a long moment, Sasuke considered. When he spoke, it was slow and deliberate, every word weighed carefully. "…We both hate Sensei, yes?"

"Without a doubt," Toshi agreed instantly. Sasuke nodded, his black hair mixing with Toshi's fiery red curls.

"I propose a truce," he said flatly. "At least until we kill Sensei."

"We can't kill him," Toshi retorted. "He's better than us, and he has the support of, like, a billion ANBU. They'd cream us!"

"…We'll figure something out." The words were serious, but neither boy truly meant it, and both knew it. They neither hated nor wanted to kill Kakashi, but were not above some form of petty revenge, even if they had to cooperate to achieve it.

Toshi grinned at the sky. "Then truce. Let's get out of this mess, then we'll decide what to do with our bastardized teacher. Can you reach my kunai pouch where you are?"

A moment's squirming, and then Sasuke grunted. "Hn."

Three minutes of awkward contortions and two cut fingers later, the boys were free.

"YES!" Toshi shouted, pumping a (newly freed) fist in the air. "I could kiss you, Sasu-princess! 'Cept, you know, I don't know where you've been… and I could catch something… and there are such things as taking collaboration too far, you know?"

Sasuke chose to ignore his annoying teammate, instead stretching out his sore muscles. "I still say we kill him," he commented. Toshi stopped his celebrating and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, _sure_," he drawled. "Because _that's_ not high treason! Oh, just a little kunai in the back: he'll hardly feel it!" Toshi waved his hand, miming to match his faux-dismissive voice. "Of course, there is the little fact that he's a freak and even _if_ we managed to stab his heart out, he'd still have time to turn around and grind us into dust before he even realised he was dead! And _then_, once he finally _did_ notice his deadness, he'd probably be all, like, 'oh, well' and go on reading his Icha Icha!"

Sasuke had tuned out most of Toshi's rant through years of long practice, but he jumped and looked at the boy sharply at his last sentence.

"That's it," he said softly. Toshi blinked.

"Huh? What's it?" he asked.

"Icha Icha. Let's extract revenge on his book. That new one he got from Jiraiya-sama, that won't hit the shops for another three months."

There was a pause, and Sasuke looked around to see Toshi standing with his mouth open.

"That's… that's…" he stuttered, trying to find words. Then, he clapped his hands in front of him and bowed low from the waist, saying, "You are truly your brother's brother. That's pure _evil_. I see I have much to learn, oh great one."

Sasuke smirked.

* * *

Naruto padded after his new Handler, shyly sneaking peeks at him through his (newly washed) bangs. The man was an odd one. He'd refused to allow Naruto to step into the glass enclosure as he was, but had become increasingly embarrassed when the blonde had accordingly stripped off the loose and rather worn clothing he was wearing. Then, he'd fiddled with the silver stars fixed to the wall and Naruto had just had enough time to reach out to play with them himself before it started _raining_ on him! _Inside_!

So, of course, Naruto had shot out of the glass box faster than a hummingbird on speed and stared at the warm running water that slowly began to fog up the glass.

Kakashi-sir had seemed disconcerted when all it took was an order from him to have Naruto inching back into the glass box, sticking to the edges and sucking in his stomach to avoid the freakish water, and Naruto deduced that he was probably used to dealing with less trained creatures.

In any event, he quickly got over it and began to explain that this odd contraption was called a _shower_ and apparently it was where humans washed themselves, using odd liquids that stung Naruto's eyes and tasted bad when he licked them.

Kakashi-sir quickly forbade him from eating the strange substances – rather pointlessly, as Naruto was gagging and mentally swearing never to try 'soap' again – and began to explain how the rain-on-command thing actually worked while he forcibly doused Naruto in water and then soap and then water again.

Apparently, it was basically a fancy hose. Naruto liked this one much better than the high-powered industrial-type hose situated in Master's courtyard that Naruto's usual Handlers would use to spray high-powered streams of icy water at the jinchuuriki to get mud and other filth off them quickly.

Although he wasn't too keen on soap.

Now, he followed Kakashi-sir through the small house, hair still damp, wearing a new set of clothing made of decidedly softer materials than his last set, wondering if this was when Kakashi-sir would take him to his new cage. Surely he'd been inside, breaching the rules, for long enough?

But no, Kakashi-sir stopped in another room – this one Naruto knew was a kitchen, because when he was eight, he had snuck into Master's kitchen and stolen some extra food. He'd been punished brutally, both by the kitchen staff and Master, so needless to say he was a bit leery about entering a kitchen again.

"Sit down there," Kakashi-sir said softly – he seemed to give all orders in that sad, quiet tone. Naruto carefully edged his way inside, cringing already as he waited for someone to yell or throw something at him, but nothing happened, even as he settled on the floor next to the raised human table, legs tucked up under him.

Kakashi-sir had turned away and was fiddling with something over by the bench-thing, opening cupboards and moving things around.

"Are you hungry?" he said eventually. Naruto hesitated a beat before answering.

"Yessir."

"Don't call me-" Kakashi-sir cut himself off and turned around again, holding a bowl of some kind of human food in each hand. For a moment, he looked confused, sweeping the room with his gaze, before he spotted the blonde waiting patiently on the floor. He took in a sharp breath and strode forwards quickly, setting down the bowls on the wooden table with a sharp clink and turning to his new charge.

Naruto was beginning to panic at the sharp – _annoyed? _– movements. Was he doing something wrong? Kakashi-sir had told him to sit down, but maybe he wasn't supposed to be so close to where the people ate? He began to scoot away, hoping it would placate the human man.

For a moment, it didn't seem to work: Naruto was sure he was going to start yelling. He lowered his eyes in a programmed response, making sure his entire body was submissive. He was used to temperamental Handlers, and knew the best way to avoid pain was to grovel and pray they forgive you for whatever it is you didn't realise you were doing wrong in the first place.

To his surprise, Kakashi-sir just sighed heavily.

"Naruto, get up," he said. Naruto waited for a moment, unsure if he had really heard that command or not, before carefully rising to his feet. Kakashi-sir reached out his right hand and pulled a wooden chair out from the table, making its legs screech against the tiled floor, and said, "Sit here."

Naruto froze.

"But that's a human chair!" he blurted before he thought, then cringed at his outburst. Kakashi-sir just looked at him.

"It is," he agreed. "And I'm telling you to sit on it, and eat the food I give you. To save time, yes it is human food, but it's good for you, so I want you to eat it."

For a long moment, pet and Handler stared at each other, one determined to make the other comply, the other trying to decide which ingrained rule to disobey – obedience or servility.

Eventually, obedience won out and Naruto slowly gathered himself, moving to sit uncomfortably in the indicated chair and stare at the bowl placed in front of him.

Could that really be his food? Was he _really_ being offered this – some sort of fried rice, steamy hot with chunks of meat and roughly cut vegetables mixed throughout it – to eat, instead of the usual fruit, bran, oats or slops he was used to being fed once a day?

Very slowly, waiting every half-inch his arm extended for Kakashi-sir to realize what he was doing, snatch the bowl away and deal him a box to the ear and his _real_ instructions, Naruto reached for the food. A set of twin black sticks had been rammed into the rice, but Naruto wasn't sure what to make of them. He vaguely recognized them as the utensils humans used to eat, but wasn't truly sure of their function. Besides, he had hands and a tongue: that was good enough to manage any food he'd come across thus far.

Drawing the bowl closer to him, Naruto shot a furtive glance at the human, checking one last time he was really allowed to eat. Kakashi-sir was now seated opposite him at the table, but he wasn't paying a single bit of attention to his charge: he was reading a book, his left hand holding it open where he could see it while his right held two sticks expertly.

That was all the reassurance Naruto needed. If he really wasn't allowed the food, Kakashi-sir would be watching him like a hawk. Without further qualms, the blonde began to eat with typical enthusiasm, digging into the bowl with both hands and (occasionally) teeth as well, somehow navigating the sticky white rice from bowl to his mouth.

The next time he looked up, Kakashi-sir had finished eating and was totally engrossed in his book, and Naruto spared a second to wonder at the speed he must have eaten to be done with his meal already before instantly shoving the thought aside to make way for the all-important, all-encompassing idea that was his meal.

He didn't notice Kakashi watching him eat over the top of his book, a sad, vacant look making his eye glaze over with lost moments.

* * *

Naruto took a horrified step backwards, staring at his Handler, too appalled to even remember to avert his gaze respectfully – quite a feat, as he hadn't done that for more than six years.

"No," he said quietly, and then again, louder. "No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, _no_!" He was shaking his head frantically, backing up, looking around for an escape, silently begging Kakashi-sir for mercy.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Kakashi-sir sounded weary – and why shouldn't he be? It had been a long day, and it was past ten p.m. Plus, Naruto had a feeling he might have tried Kakashi-sir's patience when he'd attempted to 'help' with the dishes and ended up covered head to toe in small white bubbles.

What? They were fun, even if they _did _smell like soap and lemons. Naruto hadn't tried to taste them.

"I can't!" Naruto pleaded. "I _can't_. Don't make me! Please?"

"I'm failing to see the problem." Kakashi-sir looked around the room again before raising a hand to rub at his temple. Naruto guessed his head was hurting.

"It's a _human_ bed," he whimpered, shooting a fearful glance over his shoulder at the futon Kakashi-sir had unfolded for him. "I… I've never… _please_. It's bad enough… I'm inside… but a _human_ bed… please? I… I can't… that's going too far."

That seemed to catch Kakashi-sir's interest. "Too far?" he repeated. "What's too far, Naruto?"

Naruto half-winced: he wasn't used to humans using his name, and right now it was just adding to his discomfort. "Master's rules," he said slowly, dropping his eyes. "I… it's hard enough to even be indoors, in a human's home, when he's taught me all my life to respect boundaries. I… to sleep in a bed made for and owned by humans… it's too much. Please, do you… I know you're just doing your job, but… could you just take me to whatever cage you plan to keep me in? Please? If it's not safe yet, you could tie me up, or post chakra fences, or something."

Kakashi stared at the pitifully hopeful look in Naruto's eyes, mixed with a good deal of fear – that his Handler would punish him for asking something like this – and dread – that his Handler _wouldn't_ force him to sleep outside in the cold without even a blanket. Kakashi bit back a furious flood of curses at whatever bastard was responsible for this. And he must have tried very hard, too – surely thirteen years wasn't long enough for this kind of damage to a boy's psyche?

"Naruto," he said sternly, falling with alarming ease into his 'Handler' role. "I want you to think of every single rule you have learnt at your master's house." Naruto nodded obediently, calming a little as the familiarity of orders soothed him. Kakashi fixed him with a long look, giving him a couple of seconds, before continuing, "Now forget every one of them. Don't talk back."

Naruto abruptly shut his mouth, which he had opened to protest. Kakashi wanted to cross his arms, but forced himself to simply let his arms hang passively by his sides. No threatening gestures.

"You are not under your master's rule at this point in time," Kakashi continued firmly. _Or ever again, if I can help it_. "As such, you are not under his rules. I have new rules for you. Most likely, many will be at least similar, and so you may abide by your lessons unless I specifically tell you to change your attitude. Understand?"

Naruto hesitated a beat, but nodded. "Yessir."

"Don't-" Kakashi broke off with a sigh. Typical. He'd _just_ finished telling the brat… oh, never mind. "Now, I do not exile my subordinates outside at night in autumn," he said sternly. "It is insulting you would think I would leave you out to freeze. Though Konoha is still a relatively warm location, it is still significantly colder than Tea Country, where I understand you are from. So, you _will_ sleep here. In this room. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Naruto said instantly. He'd been cringing ever since Kakashi had uttered the word 'insulting', obviously terrified of being struck for his actions.

Kakashi resisted the urge to leave, hunt down this 'Master' and deliver a well-deserved knee to the nuts.

"Good. Now, it's late." Kakashi moved to turn the radiator on low, warming the room slightly for the night, before walking back to the door. "Go to sleep. Good night."

"Good night, Kakashi-sir," Naruto chanted instantly, dropping to his knees and bowing his head, obviously out of habit.

Again, Kakashi's head was filled with half-baked plans of a certain man's anaesthetic-free neutering. He closed the door carefully.

* * *

Sasuke and Toshi crouched together under the eaves of the apartment block across the street to Kakashi-sensei's apartment. It was late – after midnight – the night directly after they'd been tied together by their bastard teacher.

So they were here for revenge. Well, mostly to check out what they were up against before they sought revenge, but it amounted to the same thing.

"No visible traps," Sasuke commented eventually. Toshi rolled his eyes.

"…As one would _expect_," he drawled, "As we are being taught by a jounin, not an Academy student."

Sasuke looked for a moment like he was going to give a biting response, to which Toshi would have inevitably reacted with another sarcastic comment, sparking a spiralling argument that within three minutes would have degenerated into a brawl and several blood noses or similar, but somehow restrained himself.

Instead, he said, "Let's check it out."

"Yes, milady," Toshi mocked, but it wasn't designed to hurt. It was just typically him. Ever since he'd met Sasuke back in the Academy and mistaken him for a girl first glance, he'd been 'the Princess'. Toshi, likewise, had such endearing nicknames from Sasuke as 'Asshole', 'Mongrel', inspired by his mixed heritage, and his personal favourite, 'Fucking Idiot Who Should Be Stabbed On Principle'. Sasuke usually used that one right before grinding his nose into the dust and ramming several kunai in increasingly-deadly and/or unmentionable places.

But anyway.

Together, the boys crept towards the apartment. They had decided between them to enter using the front door, because to a ninja, that would be that path no-one ever even thought of using to enter or leave the home, and therefore only frequented by civilians, and therefore the least likely to be booby trapped.

Ninja were weird like that.

It was surprisingly easy to circumnavigate the wards and disable the three traps they found at the front door – clearly, they had been right. This was a weakness in Kakashi-sensei's defences.

"Spread out," Sasuke murmured. "See what you can find. Abort if Sensei turns up."

"Yeah, 'cause he's real likely to be prowling his apartment at one a.m.," Toshi said, sounding bored as he crept through the apartment. Of course, the fact that he _sounded_ bored meant that he was exactly the opposite, and Sasuke comforted himself with the proof that his partner's heart was thumping at least as hard as his own as they began to search the apartment.

Both boys were in the kitchen and froze when they heard the soft sounds of a ninja not at all worried about being heard (just a hair louder than silent) in the hallway. But he only went a few feet, before stopping.

* * *

Kakashi pushed the door to the guest room open cautiously. For some reason, tonight he'd been unable to sleep more than two hours straight, and kept waking up filled with the urge to check on Naruto.

Which he had stubbornly ignored, because he had put wards all around the room that would alert him if someone attempted to cross them, and so it followed that Naruto was still safely alone inside the room. There was absolutely no need to reassure himself that Sensei's son was still there.

However, that reasoning was totally discarded when he'd been staring at the ceiling in his own bedroom and a small sound – a whimper – had reached him through the thin walls of his apartment.

Naruto's room was right next door. The boy was sleeping not five metres from Kakashi's own bed.

Standing in the doorway for a moment, Kakashi felt a stab of something definitely _not _panic – ninja do not panic, dammit! – when he saw the futon he'd set out was not only empty, but totally untouched, obviously not slept in. The panic was replaced with a decidedly less urgent concern as the silver-haired man spotted the child curled up on the hardwood floor. He was nowhere near the bed: he couldn't have just rolled out.

That worry was put aside as Naruto whimpered again, curling up into a tighter ball. Coming closer and feeling the vague tingle spread through him as his wards alerted him to his own presence, Kakashi could see him shivering, pressing against the radiator that still turned on low. Somehow, he didn't think the wild child was cold, even though he had no blanket or bedding.

Naruto's face was troubled, and he whimpered and moaned with almost unnatural quietness: the sounds would have been unnoticeable from more than fifteen metres, or if someone was asleep. Even so, Kakashi had no problem recognising what was ailing his young charge.

Nightmares.

Kakashi sighed, kneeling next to Naruto's twitching form in the darkness. He himself was no stranger to nightmares: he had had them every night between the ages of eight and fourteen.

Walking in on your father's suicide will do that to you.

But despite his vast amount of experience in the unsavoury things, Kakashi really didn't know how to react to this one. _Who knows what kind of horrors he's haunted by_? he mused to himself, watching as Naruto writhed suddenly, his face contorting with imagined pain, chakra fluctuating wildly in fear. Sensei had always comforted Kakashi by a midnight hug that neither would ever mention in the daylight hours, but Kakashi knew instinctively that wouldn't work here. _He's never been hugged before: it'd probably frighten him even more. Poor kid._ _I can't shake him awake or anything, either: he doesn't like to be touched by his Handlers, and I don't want to frighten him, or he could attack me, and that could be messy._

Kakashi frowned, and half-shrugged. The simplest solution would be to just soothe the boy with his chakra, calm his mind by calming his chaotic chakra system. It was easy to do: Kakashi could use his own chakra to settle the blonde, and Naruto would be none the wiser. He'd sleep through the night, and Kakashi could go back to bed as well.

Nodding to himself, the Hatake reached out and placed a hand between Naruto's shoulder blades, feeling him shuddering, and just pushed some of his chakra into him, gently urging him to calm down and banishing the kid's fear.

It worked – for about ten seconds. Then, something clicked and a foreign energy flooded Naruto's body, radiating wave after shocking wave through his small frame.

Kakashi snatched his hand back, highly alarmed, and Naruto's eyes shot open, blue meeting grey for a half-second before the blonde opened his mouth.

And _screamed_.

* * *

Sasuke and Toshi both jerked violently at the loud, inhuman, feral scream that suddenly erupted, echoing around them in the enclosed space. The Uchiha stared in the direction it was coming from, feeling Sensei's chakra beginning to spike with fear, wondering what on earth was making that noise.

It couldn't be human. No human could _ever_ sound like that.

Just as suddenly as it began, the scream – the _howl_ of absolute _suffering _– ended, cut off as if someone had flipped a switch.

Toshi grabbed his arm.

"C'mon, man, we need to get out of here," he said urgently. Sasuke looked at him for a long moment. Toshi shook his head, pulling harder on the unmoving Uchiha. "Come _on_! We can't be found here! Whatever that was, it could be dangerous!"

"Then we should stay and help Sensei be rid of it," Sasuke commented coolly. Toshi shook his head.

"Sensei wouldn't have let it in his apartment in the first place if he didn't have a reason. But if we're here, we could screw up whatever it is. And… if it gets violent, we could be forced to kill it, and then Sensei might kill _us_, especially if it was really special, or something."

Sasuke considered.

"That's easily the first time you've ever made sense," he commented, turning. "Hn. We will go. It's too late for a trip to the outskirts tonight: you can stay with me until dawn."

It was amazing how Sasuke managed to totally dismiss the scream – or appear to – as he led his teammate out of his teacher's apartment and to his own.

But neither of them could truly rid themselves of the memory, or of the horrible ringing left in their ears.

* * *

Kakashi was still definitely _not_… ah, screw it. He _was_ panicking. And he had a right to, dammit! What the hell had happened?!

Carefully, he turned Naruto over, noting the fine tremors wracking his well-toned teenage body. That surge of power – a chakra foreign to both Kakashi and Naruto, and yet definitely of human origin.

Not Kyuubi, then.

What did that leave?

Sweeping his gaze up and down the boy, he quickly noticed the obvious way Naruto had clutched at his collar in the eight and a half seconds before he'd passed out. Leaning closer, Kakashi pried his hands away and examined the area himself.

The delicate skin of Naruto's neck was an angry red, as if it had been mildly burnt. And, when he ran his fingers over it, the collar itself was slightly warm.

Frowning, a terrible feeling of sickened dread coiling in his stomach, Kakashi reached up and combed his unruly hair out of the way, and then opened his left eye. He had removed his hitai-ate before going to sleep, but had kept the sharingan eye closed, to save chakra. Now he opened it and looked again at the unconscious, twitching boy in his arms.

What he saw made him pale, and then growl – actually verbally growl – with anger.

The collar they'd put on him was not just a mark of ownership. It was chakra-sensitive, meaning that it would react to different types of chakra. But this was not just to secure or remove it, as he'd first supposed. No, this collar was designed to _punish_ as well.

Obviously, it seemed to send out several jolting pulses of concentrated chakra through its wearer's system. Kakashi ground his teeth. Didn't they understand how _dangerous_ that was?! To be strong enough to make him lose consciousness, the waves would have had to have been strong enough to damage his internal organs, impair breathing and momentarily stop Naruto's heart, not to mention what that much power could do to his brain! It was a miracle it hadn't killed him yet! And that wasn't even considering the extreme pain the kid would be in, before and after his brief reprieve of unconsciousness.

And worse, it reacted to alien chakra sources touching Naruto's own, so his gentle attempt at soothing the boy in his sleep, or – Kakashi gasped as he realised – something like a _chakra fence_ would spark the collar.

One more thing. Kakashi carefully examined the way the collar was designed with his sharingan, noticing and clenching his fists as he recognised one more aspect of the thing.

_Oh, Kami. They can turn it on. They must have a device – a radio or remote of some kind – and they can just turn it on. No wonder the kid's so terrified of doing something wrong. Man, this is going to be harder than I thought._

Naruto began to move, shifting in his arms and opening his eyes. Instantly, he began to grimace with the residual pain, tears filling his eyes, though he didn't shed them. Thanks to the sharingan, Kakashi could literally _see_ the collar spark, a bit of his lingering chakra causing a flare in its own reaction wind-down, making Naruto stiffen and let out a pitiful cry of pain before twisting where he lay and vomiting up everything he'd eaten that night, all over the man cradling him up off the floor.

Kakashi found he didn't really mind, too focused on clearing the boy's mouth out so he didn't choke, rubbing his back in hopes of dispelling the tremors, one thought circling with an almost lazy fury through his brain.

Oh, he was going to do a _lot_ worse than neutering to 'Master' when he got ahold of him. He was going to _destroy_ that motherfucker.

* * *

Naruto was floating in a sickeningly familiar haze of pain, mind adrift from his body and stalling as it tried to reconnect, tried to decipher what had happened.

He'd been asleep… then his collar activated, out of the blue… but why did…?

It made no sense.

He felt himself beginning the slide back to full consciousness, slipping faster and faster into normal wakefulness.

The moment he was aware enough to register it, he noticed the acidic smell in his nose and bitter taste hanging in his mouth, and sighed. He'd vomited again. With luck it could just be hosed away, and his Handler wouldn't be _too_ mad.

He was lying slightly awkwardly, he perceived. Face-down. Almost kneeling as his upper body was propped up on something… something warm… two strong limbs looped around him, holding him in place…

Shock ran through Naruto like a jolt of electricity. His position was so mind-bogglingly unfeasible, he hadn't realised what was happening at first.

He was being held.

By his _Handler._

His whole torso was being cradled in Kakashi-sir's lap. Naruto held himself utterly still, heart beginning to thump with a little fear and more than a little confusion. What was happening? Why was Kakashi-sir here? What was going on?

Oh, _hell_. Naruto's breath caught as he realised Kakashi-sir's shirt was damp and sticky and thick with the smell of stomach acid: he had obviously thrown up all over his Handler.

_Crap crap shit fuck!_ Naruto chanted mentally. _He's gonna kill me! What do I do now?!_

**I could kill him,**Naruto's darker side suggested.

_I can't do that! You're crazy! You're _me_ and you're crazy!_

**It's worth a shot, if he's going to kill me anyway…**

… _He probably won't actually kill me… I'm really expensive… and it's not like it was on purpose…_

**Why take the chance?**

_Because he'll turn my collar on! And that _hurts_!_

**He may not be able to. They probably don't have the remote here.**

_Then how do I explain the way my collar just turned on? Fairies?_

Naruto's darker side retreated, leaving Naruto alone to face his Handle1r's wrath. After a moment's deliberation, he decided feigning unconsciousness was the best course of action. Kakashi-sir wasn't fooled.

"Naruto? Are you awake?" he asked, his voice low and calm. Naruto bit his lip, hesitating as long as he dared before he forced out his answer.

"Yessir."

"Are you alright?" The question threw Naruto for a loop, before he remembered that this was the first time Kakashi-sir had ever seen his collar activate, and Naruto had reacted quite badly to it this time, after all, vomiting and everything. It was natural Kakashi-sir would be concerned – he was _paid_ to care about Naruto's overall health. He probably was wondering if Naruto was allergic to the chakra pulses, or something, like Yugito had been before they changed the frequency of her collar.

"Yessir," he repeated, shifting a little uncomfortably as his heart began to thump. He wasn't looking forwards to the repercussions of his bout of sickness.

Kakashi-sir eased him away until he was kneeling on the floor before the human, and Naruto took that as the cue to start grovelling.

Making sure he looked about as meek and compliant as possible, he stole a glance through blonde bangs and winced, beginning to panic as he watched Kakashi-sir examine the half-digested rice smeared across his clothes.

"Naruto, I don't think I need to tell you this is yours, but then, you were only semi-conscious at the time," Kakashi-sir began, his tone serious and just a bit dark. Naruto flinched – he must be mad.

"I'm sorry!" he yelped instantly, ducking his upper body so low his forehead touched the floorboards below him and arms reaching up to shield his head. "I didn't mean to!"

He waited, tense, breathing erratically and heart pounding wildly for Kakashi-sir's first blow to fall, praying desperately that the man would go easy on him and leave him still able to walk in the morning.

But nothing happened. For the longest time. Eventually, after what seemed like an age, the man shifted (Naruto flinched) and said, "Naruto, I'm not going to hit you."

The words were so bizarre Naruto took a moment to process them. When he finally deciphered what it was Kakashi-sir had said, he had no idea how to react, so he settled for just staying frozen in place, safe in his ultimate display of subservience and submission.

Kakashi stared down at the boy, huddled shivering on the floor before him, arms up around his head in an instinctive attempt to protect his vital areas.

So… what was he to do?

He _wanted_ to shake him, to lift Naruto up and tell him again and again until he _got it damn him_ that he was safe here, that Kakashi wasn't going to punish him because he had been in so much pain he'd _thrown up_. But the Hatake knew that would do no good.

So what could he do? Gentle words wouldn't work, touches wouldn't work, and Kakashi sure as hell wasn't going to do what the boy expected and _beat_ him (cue furious growl and slight detail added to the forming make-Master-pay plan swirling in his mind).

That just left… walking away.

As heartless an action it seemed, it might well be the best possible way to prove to Naruto that he had no intention of ever hurting him.

So, bracing himself, he stood up slowly, wincing as the blonde visibly cringed, pressing himself to the floor as if hoping he could melt into it.

"I am going back to bed," he said, choosing to forgo more reassurances. Naruto twitched in shock at the words, and he turned and walked back to the door, carefully making enough noise for Naruto to track his movements. When he reached the hall, he paused and looked back at the boy, who was now peeking at him through his arms, disbelief and fear etched over his mostly-hidden face.

"It was an accident," he said firmly. "I forgive you. Now go back to sleep. Don't leave this room until I come for you."

And he swung the door closed on the jinchuuriki.

Then fought the urge to punch something. Or swear. Or cry. Or all three.

Sighing, he made his way slowly to his bathroom, stripping off his soiled clothes, intent on washing quickly before falling into bed.

He was suddenly exhausted.


	5. Adjusting

Chapter Four - Adjusting

Kakashi's eyes snapped open. For a long moment, he wondered why exactly he was feeling so stressed, and why there was a sick feeling coiling in the pit of his stomach so soon after waking.

_I haven't even woken up yet and already I know this day's a migraine waiting to happen_, he mused. _Now, why would it… Naruto_!

He was out of bed like a shot and dodged into the hallway, pulling open the door to Naruto's room with a sharp jerk.

The boy was already awake – even though Kakashi had overslept, it was still earlier than most kids his age woke – and was standing, hands and nose pressed to the window, stretching up on his tiptoes as if straining to see something.

"Is anything wrong?" Kakashi asked, his voice automatically morphing from his usual lackadaisical tone to something more gentle and caring.

Even so, Naruto started violently and backed away from the window as if burnt, spinning to stare at the jounin with wide, frightened eyes.

"I'm sorry!" he blurted. "I wasn't trying to escape, honest! I just wanted to see what kind of day it is Outside! Sorry, Kakashi-sir!" He cringed, one hand snaking up to grip his collar.

Kakashi blinked. It took approximately four seconds for him to realise that the blonde was frightened that he would decide Naruto was trying to escape, and activate his collar to punish him, or something equally horrible.

"It's okay, I believe you," he said soothingly. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, spotting Naruto sneaking curious glances at him. "What?" he asked cluelessly.

"Your face…" Naruto mumbled, averting his eyes. Kakashi drew in a sharp breath, his hand flying up to touch his uncovered face. Of course: last night, he'd just fallen into bed without bothering to fully redress. And he had come bursting into Naruto's room without even thinking, clad only in a set of comfortable pants he'd worn to bed.

Kakashi shook his head – _this kid, he's making me slip_ – but felt a smile begin as he watched Naruto struggle between curiosity and fear.

"Yes: I'm not wearing my mask right now," he agreed pleasantly. Naruto nodded at his toes, and Kakashi turned to leave the room. "…I'm going to go get ready," Kakashi said slowly. "Today we're going to see the Hokage, so you should…" What could he tell the kid to do? He didn't know how to wash, didn't have a change of clothes to change into, certainly couldn't make his own breakfast… "Be ready to go," he eventually settled on.

Naruto nodded and watched Kakashi-sir leave. A few moments later, the sound of running water reached him, and he knew his Handler was in that weird glass box – _shower_ – presumably going about his morning rituals. Naruto knew that humans had a great many, including at least daily bathing and the application of various chemicals to various areas.

The blonde suspected it was a matter of religion. He didn't know any other reason they'd consent to be dipped _daily_, sometimes _twice _a day. Although, judging from the 'shower' he'd had yesterday, Naruto supposed it might not be so bad for them.

So what was he supposed to do? After some deliberation, Naruto walked to sit about a foot inside the still-open door, crossing his legs and tugging at his clothes, ready to wait for the human.

Self-consciously, he combed a hand through his own blonde hair, tugging out some of the bigger knots. Normally, Yugito would do this for him, but she wasn't here, and Naruto had no idea if he was expected to be groomed or not.

The sunbeam peaking in the window had spread to cover two and a fraction of the thin wooden floorboards by the time Kakashi-sir reappeared, dressed once again as he was the day before. He paused when he saw Naruto sitting there quietly, and for a moment Naruto was sure he'd done something wrong, but Kakashi-sir just gestured for him to follow.

"Are you hungry?" the tall man asked as Naruto obediently stood and padded after him. Naruto hesitated. He could feel his stomach clenching, asking to be fed, but knew that it was his own fault for throwing up everything he'd eaten the night before. And Kakashi-sir could well be testing him, testing his obedience and level of training.

"…I'm always hungry, sir," he said eventually. "But you fed me last night."

Kakashi-sir looked at him sharply.

"I fed you… Naruto, exactly how often, how much and what are you fed at ho… where you normally live?" he demanded. Naruto chewed his lip, lowering his eyes and resiting the urge to drop to his knees to report – he couldn't do that _and_ follow his Handler, after all.

"Once a day – usually in the mornings – our feed is placed in our communal bowl in our cage," he said in the monotone he usually used to relay messages and facts to Handlers. "It's usually raw bran or oats. And we get some fruit or something if we've been good. And 'bout once a week Master will send us a treat."

Kakashi-sir had stopped, probably because they'd reached the kitchen-room. Now he was staring at his charge, his visible eye wide.

"How much do they give you of each of these things every day?" he asked carefully. Naruto blinked, confusion and uncertainty showing in his blue-red eyes.

"…It's only ever one or two of those things," he mumbled. "They vary it, so we don't get bored. An' it's whatever fits in the bucket they use. They mix it all up with hot water so it turns into a kind of mush, so it's easier for us to eat."

"How many of you are there?" the Hatake demanded. Naruto flinched: he sounded like he was getting mad.

"Three," he said, very quietly.

"And are you active for much of the day?" Kakashi-sir asked. The blonde shrugged slowly, sinking to his knees as it seemed they weren't moving anywhere for a while.

"Mostly. Sometimes we're left in the cage, though."

"Cage?" Kakashi-sir sounded outraged – inexplicably. "Wait, and all they give you is a bucket of… muck… between three of you?"

"Sometimes we get slops from the kitchen," Naruto offered. "As a treat."

"Slops! That's… sick!" Something snapped, and Naruto jumped, looking up to see Kakashi-sir had squeezed the edge of the table until a corner had broken off. The teenager's heart began to beat faster: a Handler angry was bad! It meant they were more likely to hit him! "Tell me you at least had water!"

Naruto nodded. "Yup-yup!" he said, glad he could agree with his Handler on something. "We have a big trough in our cage that gets filled up every morning, even though it's never empty by then, and if we want a drink when we're out, we're allowed to drink from the tap. The tap tastes better'n the trough-water, 'cause they put powders in the trough to keep us healthy, and they taste bad." Naruto stuck out his tongue and screwed up his face as if to demonstrate. The other man's angry fire seemed to be ebbing away, leaving a kind of hopelessness behind.

"Some kind of vitamin and protein supplement," Kakashi-sir said quietly, obviously to himself, staring at Naruto with an eye slightly misted. "Hell… Sensei…"

"Sir? Are you… okay?" Naruto ventured after a few long moments' silence. Kakashi blinked and shook his head, coming down to earth rapidly.

"Uh… yeah, Naruto. Well, here, you'll eat at least three times a day, okay? Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yes, the human meals. You need them, if you're going to grow strong and healthy. I don't know what your 'master' is thinking, feeding you _slops_…" The rest of what he said dissolved into dark mutterings, and Naruto decided it would be prudent to just sit at the table where he was directed and obediently eat what was placed before him.

No further conversation occurred until they left.

* * *

Naruto trotted obediently behind Kakashi-sir, exactly one and a half paces back, swivelling his head to try and take in everything about his surroundings. They had been to see Hokage-sama, and Naruto had stood patiently just inside the door while the Handler and Master spoke.

To Naruto's surprise, Hokage-sama didn't seem at all perturbed by the way Kakashi-sir had treated him, offering him human food and letting him sleep inside – rather, he looked _concerned_ when Kakashi-sir reported that Naruto hadn't actually slept on the provided bed.

Or, Naruto _thought_ it was concern. Maybe he was mistaken. Humans were weird.

Anyway, the old human had ordered the Handler to take Naruto with him to 'training'. Naruto could only assume that this meant he was going to be put to work in this village until the whole mess with his ownership could be sorted out, and had tamely followed his silver-haired guide back out of the big red building where Hokage-sama seemed to live.

He didn't mind. He was trained to obey unquestioningly, and also to accept whatever task was put before him to complete. He had done his fair share of hard labour in his life, and wasn't going to kick up a fuss at the prospect of a little more.

Now, they had navigated the bustling streets with an ease that astounded Naruto (how did Kakashi-sir know where to turn? Didn't he get lost? How could _anywhere_ have so many paths and buildings?) and were walking down a road hedged by what appeared to be fields, though they were clearly not used for farming or livestock. Naruto thought they looked rather like the training grounds just outside Master's home, where he and the others of his pack were taught how to fight, hunt, track and work, but he didn't think this place had many like him to train, so they couldn't be… right?

"Naruto." Kakashi-sir jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Yessir?"

"_Don't_ call me sir," Kakashi-sir stressed. Naruto bit his lip, not reacting one way or another to the order. It was a ludicrous concept, so he just brushed it away. Kakashi-sir had half-turned and was speaking over his shoulder, still leading the way to their destination.

"You should know," the tall man said, "That I have a team of kids – they're chuunin now, fifteen – that I still train. We're going to join them and I'm going to teach them a few things, okay? We'll figure out what to do with you when we get there. In the mean time… just… thought I'd give you a heads up."

Naruto nodded, thoroughly mystified. What in Master's name was a _kid_? Or a _chuunin_? Or a _heads up_? And why would Kakashi-sir feel the need to give him one such item?

Was Kakashi-sir trying to tell him he was already in the middle of teaching a fresh batch of jinchuuriki? Maybe. But if that were so, why were they already out in the place of learning? Wouldn't they need to go fetch the other jinchuuriki from their cage first? Or did Kakashi-sir have a partner who was bringing them?

Either way, Naruto was looking forward to meeting some others like him, even if his hackles did rise a bit at the thought of the inevitable dominance-determining battles that would take place – maybe not during this session itself, but the moment the Handlers' backs were turned.

When they got to what was apparently their destination (an even field ringed with trees with short, neatly-trimmed grass) Naruto was surprised to find not a single other jinchuuriki or Handler in sight. Instead, three almost-grown human young ones were waiting. Two males and a female, sitting dotted around on the grass.

These were certainly not Handlers. They were not even full-grown, and would never be able to handle a strong-willed animal like a jinchuuriki, much less train one. They simple lacked the commanding presence and size required, even if through some miracle they had the skill.

Even Naruto, well-trained as he was, found himself sizing them up and mentally deciding he could win in a battle of wills or strength should he ever be pitted against them.

The thought was put aside as the three spotted the Handler and called, more or less in unison, "Sensei! You're _late_!"

Kakashi-sir's posture, as Naruto could see it from behind, suggested he was grinning. "Am I? Oh, dear, I'm so sorry. I _do_ hope it doesn't become a habit!"

With a good-naturedly frustrated shriek, the girl and one of the boys launched themselves at the adult, and together the three of them tumbled to the grassy ground in a friendly wrestling match.

Naruto watched, fascinated. He didn't know humans did this sort of thing too.

Then he caught a whiff of something and raised his head, sniffing. A frown creased his forehead. All three of these young human ones had the scent of Kakashi-sir ingrained in them, ground into their clothing, hanging about their flesh. It was clear he spent much time in their presence, and had for a long while. Now Naruto focused, he could catch snatches of the three individual scents of the trio of young humans on Kakashi-sir as well.

Were these… ?

Naruto's eyes widened as a thought sent a jolt of electricity all through him. Were these Kakashi-sir's _kits_?

It would make sense, especially considering the mock-brawl going on which now encompassed all four humans and a great deal of mud. He was playing with his offspring.

This in mind, Naruto was on edge. He _really_ didn't want his Handler thinking he was a threat to the Handler's own kits! No, no, no, _**bad**_ idea. The blonde jinchuuriki felt his muscles tensing with the sudden added pressure and the beginnings of a headache tugged at his mind already. Of all the high-stress situations he could imagine, this one ranked in the top three.

Easily.

"Hey, Sensei," said the girl, losing focus and consequently receiving a large glob of mud to the face via one of the boys, "Who's your friend?"

Kakashi winced, sitting up abruptly. Okay, now what was he planning to tell the brats…?

"Hey, it's that kid Neji and I picked up a few days' back!" Toshi exclaimed, dropping his totally ineffectual stranglehold on his teacher. "What's up with that?"

"Sensei, who is he and why is he here?" Sasuke asked with that patented Uchiha I'm-serious-and-dark-and-not-to-be-messed-with tone, as though he _wasn't _part-way through the motion of grinding mud into Toshi's hair.

"Okay, kiddies, listen up!" he said firmly. "This is Naruto. He is part of Konoha, but he is classified. That means no asking question about or from him, no talking about him, no gossiping, no spreading rumours, no looking at him funny… I want no prying from any of you, got it?"

He took his time to glare at them all in turn, focusing on the boys in particular.

"Yes, Sensei," they all agreed eventually.

"Okay!" he said brightly. "Naruto, This is Sasuke, Toshi and Sakura. Why don't you just watch us today, okay?" Naruto nodded, eyes down and hands twisting in front of his chest anxiously. Kakashi chose to disregard the motion. "Right! The rest of you, I'm going to… oh, damn. I forgot… Sakura, come help me set up the targets, will you? Looks like the bloody _vandals_ on squad four tore them down _again_. Boys, you go see if they managed to pull apart the ones over that way, and watch out for traps. Damn hooligans…"

Muttering darkly, Kakashi-sir moved away towards the end of the field behind the boys, the girl following along after him. Naruto curiously and slightly defensively watched the two male kits – Sasuke and Toshi. The kits looked back at him, and Naruto tensed even further at the tension that crackled between them. He did his best to make himself look small and unthreatening, while still watching them to make sure he had warning if they attacked.

"So," drawled the stockier one, Toshi. "Who're you, then?"

"I'm Naruto," he replied softly. Toshi's eyes flashed.

"Don't be a smartass!" he shouted, taking a threatening step forwards. Naruto quailed, but stood his ground. He was not to run: it was one of Master's most ingrained rules.

Sasuke reached out and touched Toshi's arm, checking the quick-tempered boy.

"He's just curious, Naruto," the dark-haired human teen said in a low, almost sensual voice. "Why don't you tell us why you're here."

Naruto hesitated. It was a direct question from a human, which demanded a prompt and honest answer, but… "Kakashi-sir told you not to ask me anything," he pointed out, looking away.

"You always listen to what your boss tells you to do?" scoffed Toshi. Naruto frowned – what kind of a question was that? Wait, these kits didn't know him. They were questioning his level of training.

"Yes," he said firmly, frowning at the grass.

Toshi was getting mad. He'd had a _really_ bad morning: his mum was sick, and there'd been a debt collector at the door demanding entrance when he'd woken up, making him late to meet his team, making _Sasu-princess_ rile on him even though he was there before _stupid_ Kakashi-sensei! That brief play-fight had risen his spirits a bit, but this blonde mystery was doing a good job of putting him right back in his previous bad mood. He felt his blood beginning to boil at the stranger's clipped, arrogant answers, and the way he averted his gaze – as if he _couldn't stand_ to look at the people he was talking to – ended up being the last straw.

So he overreacted.

"Why won't you look at me?" he shouted, stepping forwards to grab the front of the blonde's shirt in his fist. "What? Is it that some _half-breed_ chuunin isn't good enough to be talking to _you_? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Naruto was frightened. He honestly had no idea how, but he had managed to offend the Toshi-kit. The Handler's son was currently shaking him by the front of the shirt, shouting, and Naruto didn't know what to do. He daren't attack, or even defend properly, and so just allowed himself to be shaken, trying desperately to shove down the rising dark force inside him.

**I should kill the insignificant gnat!** his darkness roared, and Naruto felt it control his arms, shoving Toshi hard enough to send him reeling backwards, still clutching a torn scrap of Naruto's shirt.

A second too late, Naruto managed to control the dark anger and looked in horror as Toshi stumbled twice and fell against his brother. Sasuke caught and rightened him, beginning to look defensively angry himself, and Naruto shrank as he saw the two male human young gearing up for a fight.

He wasn't entirely sure which one threw the first punch, but he knew the white flare of pain on his cheekbone _hurt. _He yowled and his dark side _snarled _but he _couldn't _hurt that Handler's kits, no no no bad – he ducked the next blow, fighting not to lash out in response as he backed away.

Between the struggle with his dark side and trying to escape the unexpected attack, it was no wonder one of the two managed to pounce him, and Naruto choked as an arm locked tight around his throat, pinching his collar painfully against the skin and cutting off his air.

Instantly his fear spiked, and he grabbed at the stranglehold wildly, fighting to get loose and letting out a breathless cry of pain as the Sasuke-kit caught him full in the stomach. Desperately struggling to get free, he twisted and thrashed against the choking hold, his dark side rising in a wave of dark fury as his blurry view of the clearing started to spot with black.

Panicked and airless, it wasn't until he tasted blood that he realised he'd sunk his fangs into the arm holding him, and he jerked back and let go instantly, appalled and terrified. He'd _bitten _the Handler's _kit! _Sucking in air, the jinchuuriki belatedly realised he'd been released, the Toshi-kit lurching away with a howl of shocked pain, and –

Kakashi-sir reappeared in his field of vision, and the blonde instantly crumpled to the ground, forehead pressed to the ground in a show of subservience. The Handler was _furious, _black rage in his face, and Naruto could only crouch, trembling, and hope the man didn't kill him.

Toshi gripped his forearm tightly, eyes shocked and incredulous. The bastard had _bitten _him, hard enough to bleed! His attention was diverted, unsurprisingly, when a broad hand seized the back of his neck and swung him, forcefully cracking his and Sasuke's skulls together, lights exploding in his eyes with a resounding _THWACK _as his sensei dropped the two on the ground disgustedly.

"Right," came the harsh, icy voice of an angry ex-ANBU captain. "Change of plans. We're going to spar today, you two against me. Ready? Tough! Go!"

Sakura ignored the all-too-frequent sight of her teacher beating the spit out of her teammates and turned her attention to the blonde teenager Toshi had had pinned a moment ago. He'd collapsed the second the boy had let go, and she could already see the beginnings of several nasty bruises.

"Hey," she said, touching his back gently and feeling him flinch. "It's okay: don't be frightened. Sensei'll beat some sense into the idiots." She paused, taking a moment to observe her teacher chewing out the boys while clobbering them senseless. "Huh. I didn't know Sensei could _turn_ that colour."

* * *

Later that evening, Kakashi-sir was still stewing when he handed Naruto a bowl of noodles and sat down at the table. Naruto tried to sink onto the floor – ingrained habits die hard – but the Handler snapped for him to take a chair, and so he perched nervously on the wooden frame, fidgeting and more than a little frightened of the human's inevitable explosion.

If he had punished his own offspring so harshly, what would he do to the animal that had nearly savaged his sons?

Finally, Naruto screwed up his courage, not able to wait any longer.

"Um… Kakashi-sir?" he said tentatively. He seemed to jolt the silver-haired human out of his dark contemplations.

"Oh… yes, Naruto?" he said.

Naruto bit his lip and ducked his head, heart pounding frantically. But his voice only held a small waver as he said, "I was wondering… what will my punishment be?"

There was a pause.

"Punishment?" Kakashi-sir sounded like he was struggling with something. "Naruto… why do you think you are going to be punished?"

Naruto was used to this question. Master always made sure he was aware of why he was being punished: he didn't like to inflict pain on the animals without them knowing why he was doing so. That was also why he always carried out a punishment immediately, before the jinchuuriki could forget an error. He would never wait as long as Kakashi-sir had.

"I entered a fight and injured your two male kits," Naruto said promptly. "I know it was wrong. I acted out on instincts that I have been taught to control, and I am sorry. I await your punishment."

He could sense Kakashi-sir staring at him, and cringed just slightly as the human placed his cup on the table with a clink, no doubt gearing up to begin. Despite his formally spoken words, Naruto was terrified.

"Naruto," Kakashi-sir said incredulously, "The boys attacked _you_, not the other way around. They injured _you_. You only struggled as a last resort, and just barely even scratched them. With the possible exception of that bite on Toshi's wrist, they'll be fine by tomorrow."

Naruto winced. "I didn't mean to bite him, sir!" he yelped, beginning to panic. "I swear! _Really_, I don't usually bite, but I just…"

"_Naruto_," Kakashi-sir cut him off, "You bit because Toshi had cut off your air. It was normal. Hell, _I'd_ have torn the kid's arm clean off if he dared do that to _me_."

"But…" Naruto trailed helplessly, trying to figure out what the Handler was saying, why punishment hadn't started yet.

"Naruto," Kakashi-sir said firmly, "_You are not going to be punished. _You did _nothing_ wrong. Do you understand me?"

Naruto's face was creased, portraying his confusion and fear. "But – but I-" he stuttered.

"You did _nothing_ wrong," Kakashi-sir repeated. "The boys were in the wrong. I punished them. The matter is closed."

"But don't you want to discipline the animal who hurt your kits?" Naruto cried, desperate to understand.

Kakashi-sir paused.

"My what?" he asked, distracted.

"Your kits," Naruto repeated. "Um, your… young ones. The ones we met today. Do they live with their mother? Your… offspring… or… I don't know! Your _kits_! The kits I attacked!"

"You think that…" Kakashi-sir began to laugh. "Naruto, those brats aren't my kids. My sons and daughter, I mean."

"…They're… not?" Naruto said uncertainly. Kakashi-sir shook his head.

"Nah, they're just my students. I teach them things, see? They learn from me."

"Learn?" Naruto repeated. Kakashi nodded, seeing that Naruto had been sidetracked from his previous topic, and leant forwards to continue.

"Yeah, see, children need to be taught how to do things, and sometimes their parents don't have the required skills to teach them, and so they are divided up and taught by people not their parents. Like me."

"Oh." Naruto considered this, but eventually sighed and, as Kakashi-sir turned back to his meal, gave up trying to understand.

_Humans are so weird._


	6. Piccadilly Circus

_Chapter Five: Piccadilly Circus_

Naruto hugged the scroll he'd just been handed to his chest, bowing to the man who'd given it to him.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama, sir," he said fervently. This was the second scroll he'd been given, and he was standing on the end of his second week in Konoha. He was definitely enjoying this place – rather more than he should, granted, but it was so _nice_ to sleep indoors, in a warm place, and he hadn't been chained or struck _once_ since he'd arrived! _And _the food was_ awesome_! He'd never actually enjoyed eating before…

The old human leader smiled and said, "You're very welcome, Naruto. You're doing well. I hear you have been integrated into Kakashi's team, and have been helping them with their D-ranks. Good job."

Naruto nodded, his eyes down out of habit and respect. He _had_ been helping Kakashi-sir's kits in doing what seemed menial tasks, but he didn't understand why Kakashi-sir would make his students participate when he had a perfectly able jinchuuriki – a beast bred for menial labour – at his disposal.

Humans were weird.

The Toshi-kit and Sasuke-kit both seemed to dislike him, which made Naruto nervous. The Sakura-kit, on the other hand, almost doted on him, including him in conversations and fussing over any scratches he earned over the day, which made him confused.

All in all, it was a relief to be able to retreat from their presence at the end of each day.

Naruto waited patiently to be dismissed, but instead Hokage-sama started to speak again, this time to Kakashi-sir.

"Kakashi," the old man said, turning to the tall silver-haired jounin. "I… A mission has come up, and I want you to take it."

Kakashi shifted, surprised. "Sir?" he said, glancing pointedly at Naruto. Sarutobi nodded.

"Yes, I understand that at this point in time it might be hard for this to be arranged, but your students cannot be denied from all but D-ranks until the issue is resolved. It is unfair, especially as they are used to B- and C-ranks. I have chosen a C-ranked mission for you to take, but it is a simple escort. Naruto will be able to go with you," he pressed on, raising his voice to talk over Kakashi's objections.

"But… Hokage-sama, I don't think… Naruto is in no way ready for… something like this," protested Kakashi. Internally, he added, _In fact, if I thought you'd allow it, I'd wrap him in bubble wrap, shove him under my shirt for safekeeping and never ever let him out again._ "For one thing, he'll be conspicuous, and a danger to himself as well as our client!"

Sarutobi half-smiled. "Oh, I think you're underestimating Naruto," he said, "Admittedly he was trained in a manner that was… unorthodox…" Kakashi snorted with angry amusement at the phrasing, "But he was trained, nonetheless," Sarutobi said firmly. "And as for standing out, it will be just fine. You are to be guarding a travelling circus, which is headed for Snow Country. They have expressed a wish for you to be invisible, so you'll be posing as part of their lot. Naruto will fit right in."

Kakashi glared, but had to concede the point.

Eventually, after a bit more arguing, Kakashi grudgingly accepted the mission.

"You leave tomorrow. Go get some rest," Sarutobi advised. "Naruto, I'll see you when you get back, okay? This mission will probably take a little more than a week, so I'll be ready to give you your next scroll by then."

Naruto flushed and nodded, eyes on the ground and arms tightening around the scroll clutched to his chest.

In short order, they were dismissed and left, Kakashi leading his charge back to his apartment, where he proceeded to make vegetable soup a little more violently than strictly necessary, muttering oaths and curses fluently in several languages. Naruto wisely chose to retreat to his room.

_What in Master's name is __**that**__?_

* * *

Naruto stared, wide-eyed, at a bizarre golden _huge _animal settled in an iron cage. It weighed him with sharp amber eyes, and the jinchuuriki felt pinned by its gaze, shivering in a wave of fear.

"K-Kakashi-sir," he stuttered. "It's a cat… a _big_ cat. Big, big, big… mutant cat… big teeth… _big_…"

Several people spoke from behind him while he felt too tense to take his eyes off the (caged) animal.

"Che. He doesn't even know what a lion is?" Caustic. Sasuke-kit.

"Oh no, it's a lion, it's going to eat us!" _Very_ sarcastic. Toshi-kit.

"Toshi, shut up. Sasuke, be nice. God, I _hate_ this job!" Exasperated. Kakashi-sir. "Naruto, don't worry, it won't hurt you. It's tame."

Naruto relaxed marginally at the assurance, double-checking that the cage it was held in was locked and secure.

"Hey, you there."

Naruto turned to see a human male standing a little way beyond Kakashi-sir and instantly cringed.

The human wasn't particularly big or mean-looking, really – in fact, he looked kinda funny, and he was an odd red colour, like he had spent the majority of his life hanging upside down, or drunk, or both. Even so, there was something about him that Naruto instinctively shied away from. An aura of control and unforgivingness seemed to hover around him, and Naruto took a nervous step closer to Kakashi-sir.

_This_ man was a Handler, and Naruto knew – _knew_, with that animal instinct that humans seemed to lack – that to serve with this man as a master would be a harsh, iron-fisted existence. He wondered if the bizarre animals in the cages around him belonged to the pink-clad, shortish man, and fleetingly questioned whether humans had any colour-vision whatsoever.

Kakashi was aware of the way Naruto was edging behind him, slowly hiding himself completely from the man, and Kakashi didn't really blame him. This whole person screamed 'cruelty to animals'.

And honestly, there was something _wrong_ about a man who was completely pink from clothes to hair.

"You'd be the ninja, then?" the man drawled. Kakashi nodded curtly.

"That's us," he said, his voice deceptively sunny. "I'm Hatake Kakashi, and these are my genin. And you are?"

The man scowled, reaching to tip his pink silk top hat back. "Wasn't expectin' kids when I hired ninja," he grumbled.

"And we weren't expecting a giant pink blob as an employer, but here we are," Toshi piped up, and then whimpered as Sasuke (as per instructions) elbowed him hard in some internal organ.

"I can vouch for each of my students' skill," Kakashi said easily. "Your name, sir?"

The man grumbled, but said, "Danno Maro," somewhat grudgingly.

"Ah, so you _are_ our employer," Kakashi smiled. "Good, good. Now, we're here, we've been told, to protect you and your circus on your way to Snow, until you reach the village of Haniji. Is there anything else you need to tell us before we begin?"

Maro raised an eyebrow. "Just that I expect you to blend in and act your part. Your Hokage told me you could act as part of our troop. Well? What you got to show?"

Kakashi considered briefly. "Do you have a knife-thrower?" he asked. Maro shook his head, interest entering his eerily pinkish eyes. Kakashi allowed his own eye to close into a smile. "Well, then, you're in luck. You have just found four expert knife-throwers. We can also balance on wires and jump extraordinarily high. Sasuke there breathes fire, and I can juggle. I guarantee your civilian crowds will be amazed."

Maro looked grudgingly accepting, and grunted ill-temperedly before turning away, muttering, "Fine. We're moving out, so just don't get in the way."

* * *

"Aw, man," whined Toshi, whimpering as he held out his hand to Kakashi, "Why do we _always_ get the grumpy old fags who hate ninja?"

"Toshi!" scolded Sakura, hitting him over the head with the wooden handle of a hammer she was conveniently holding as she helped nail down a crate lid that had worked its way loose over the day's travelling. "Don't speak like that about our employer!"

"Well?" he replied defensively, "We always do! Don't you remember that Tazuna guy from Wave? He called us all brats all the time, and he was a slobbering drunk besides. Plus, I don't care, no man who looks like he's been dropped into a vat of pink dye is pitching for this team."

Kakashi took a sterile needle packet out of his mouth where he had stowed it temporarily and tore the sealed plastic away with his teeth, spitting the wrapping away and carefully threading the needle with medical string.

"I don't know," he said lightly as he did so, "_You_ looked pretty pink after that one babysitting mission – remember, Yusabi-san's triplet girls?"

Toshi flushed. "That was different!" he insisted, "Ow!"

"Hold still," Kakashi said in a distinctly maternalistic tone, his strong grip on Toshi's wrist preventing the boy's attempts at escape.

Sasuke grunted as he hoisted a crate back onto one of the wagons. "The mutt is right," he droned. "On both counts."

"The mighty Uchiha has spoken!" Toshi mocked instantly. "All bow before him and worship his irrefutable logic – _ow_! Sen -_sei_!"

"Look, stop squirming and this won't hurt," Kakashi sounded equal parts amused and exasperated as he quickly stitched up a deep cut to the back of Toshi's arm – Sakura was the medic, but she had been busy when he'd injured himself, and it wasn't serious enough to warrant chakra healing: it was barely four stitches. "You wouldn't even _be _hurt if you had followed orders in the first place and ducked."

"I didn't know our own employer was going to throw shards of pottery at me!" whined Toshi, wounded and puppy-eying for gold. Kakashi rolled his eyes and quickly twisted a bandage around the newly-treated injury.

"Now, don't let that get infected," he cautioned, wiping his hands off. He paused, his grey eye scanning the surrounding bustle that was the circus stopped for a break. "Where is Naruto?" he asked carefully. Both boys' faces darkened, and they gave identical (and hysterical) moody shrugs as they looked away. Sakura bit her lip as she considered.

"Last I saw, Maro-san was making him sort out some props," she said. Kakashi swore softly to himself.

Over the last few hours, it had become clear to the ninja that Danno Maro was not a man who liked letting even a single penny go to waste, and who was determined to make the ninja work every second they were here. Understandably, Kakashi was keenly interested in keeping him as far away from Naruto as possible, a fact Maro had obviously picked up on and resented.

"I better go find him, then," he said lightly, not letting his concern show through to the chuunin.

On the other side of the temporary camp, Naruto was struggling to obey Maro-Master with limited success as he attempted to reassemble a pile of interlocking bottles he had knocked over when he had stumbled carrying a heavy box. The pattern was proving too complex for him to manage as he fumbled again and again, trying to make them stay in their pyramid shape when all they wanted to do was tumble down. Naruto felt his chest constricting, his breath coming in shaky pants and a cold sweat beginning as Maro-Master breathed down his neck, scolding constantly – sometimes this happened when he couldn't do what Master wanted him to do and his Handlers didn't seem to realise he was _trying_.

Naruto felt like crying as Maro-Master hissed something in human – Naruto had terrible trouble understanding him because he had a bizarre lilt on his words that warped their sounds – and shoved him, making him drop the bottles he had collected for the fourth time.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't understand what was being asked of him, and this Master-Person was obviously getting angry, which scared him. So, frustrated, frightened and teetering dangerously between tears and hiding, Naruto was horrified when he felt his dark side twitch and begin to emerge, filling him with just a touch of anger, too.

_No! Stop_, he pleaded with himself, trying to push down the darkness, feeling the situation spinning more and more out of control as Maro-Master began to shout in earnest, Naruto catching words here and there like 'useless' and 'clumsy'.

**I'll show him useless and clumsy**, Naruto's dark side promised with a hiss. Naruto whimpered aloud, trying to contain the thoughts. **Why? He's not my Master. I don't have to obey him**.

_He's still a Human_! Naruto thought desperately. _I – he – they – Master – I – _

**I wonder what pink tastes like…**

Now terrified, gasping for air as his chest constricted further and all the air around him seemed to vanish, horrified by the images his own mind was supplying him and flinching from Maro-Master's tirade, Naruto fell back on the only thing he knew and collapsed.

Kakashi, who had followed the noise of Maro-san shouting to the spot, arrived in time to see Naruto lose his grip on what appeared to be a collection of stack 'em bottles as Maro shoved him physically, and felt a stab of anger he had to work to control.

_How dare he touch Naruto_?

Taking a moment to control himself, Kakashi's keen eye took in the way Naruto seemed to fall apart, panting and clutching at his chest: classic signs of a panic attack. For a moment, his odd, multi-coloured eyes seemed to flash completely red, before Naruto crumpled, falling to his knees and staying there, arms hugging his torso, shaking, staring into nothing.

Maro made as if to shove him again, but suddenly Kakashi was there, KI roiling off him and a deadly promise in his single eye and he grabbed the man's right wrist and left shoulder from behind.

"Why don't you go check on your people, Maro-san?" he said in a deadly voice. Maro froze, obviously not used to or liking the feel of killer intent. "We have been through this, Maro-san. You are to stay away from this child. He is not to be pushed around. And if you lay a hand on _any_ of my children again, I will terminate the contract and return to Konoha. Understood?"

Maro-san nodded rapidly, and Kakashi pushed him away.

"Good. Leave," he snapped, and the vividly dressed man hurried to obey. Threat dealt with, Kakashi turned to the shivering boy kneeling before him, lowering his lanky frame to the ground to put himself on the same level as the blonde.

"Naruto?" he said gently. "Naruto. It's okay."

Naruto shook his head, eyes closed. "No," he was saying, "No, I can't. I'm sorry, Master, I'm sorry, I tried, I'm sorry…"

"Naruto!" Kakashi said again, more firmly, and Naruto's eyes jolted open, staring at the jounin. "It's okay. You don't have to do it. It's fine."

"I tried," Naruto said instantly, cringing away from him. "I promise, I tried, I couldn't-"

"I know," Kakashi said quickly, reaching to tug Naruto to his feet. "It's alright. You'll be okay. Everything is fine. Okay?"

There was a long pause, but slowly Naruto stopped shivering. When he next looked up, he was calm and reasonably sure of himself again. He gave his Handler a wobbly little smile and meekly followed the tall man back to the safety of the rest of the squad.

* * *

Naruto watched, wide-eyed and staring, through a thick line of material that shielded the area from the rest of the huge tent which was teeming with many, many humans. The jinchuuriki had never seen so many young ones in one place before, and they were all assembled in one mass that ringed the edge of the tent.

Odd smells filled the air: one that reminded him of the corn pancakes Master ate for breakfast, another eerily similar to molasses, but somehow not so coarse. Naruto's eyes flicked from person to person, trying to pinpoint the source of the smells, trying to take in all the activity and track all movements.

In the big empty area in the middle of the tent, humans were doing astounding things at the command of Maro-Master, dancing around the circle to some kind of pattern. The animals Naruto had observed the day before were taken out and made to perform – this one act alone Naruto could comprehend – though he quailed and hid behind Kakashi-sir when the frightening big-mutant-cat-lion was released from its cage.

Now, he watched as a human girl danced to an odd musical tune around a small glass cube, wondering if the reason he had been brought here was to perform for these gathered crowds. He didn't think this was likely to occur – at least not tonight, as Kakashi-sir hadn't warned him of any such happenings and hadn't attempted to teach him to respond to any commands except for 'sit at the table' and 'don't dodge the shower water'.

Naruto was jerked from his thoughts as the girl _folded herself into the box_ and one of the men near her _closed the lid_. Through the glass sides, he could see that there was not a single bit of free space left for her to move – how had she even fitted in the first place?

"And I thought _our_ boxes were small!" he murmured incredulously.

The Sasuke-kit, who was leaning on a post two feet away, looked up at him, expression sourly resentful – Kakashi-sir had ordered him to stay here and watch Naruto while the Handler did something with his other two kits.

"What?" the dark-haired kit asked. Naruto blinked, then wilted a little and shook his head.

"No, nothing, it doesn't matter," he said quickly.

The Sasuke-kit made a scoffing noise and looked away, arms crossed moodily over his chest. Naruto's keen ears picked up the word 'freak' bit out in the breath of air, and tried not to seem hurt.

He _was_ a freak, especially when compared to this healthy human kit.

Naruto's attention was caught once more as the centre ring cleared out and Maro-Master strode out, his booming voice echoing through the stuffy structure.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have a treat!" he shouted, all attention riveted on his neon pink form, "Fresh from their tour of the south, I bring you the talented Haru family, performing for the first time in this, the best one-ring circus you will ever have the good fortune to see!"

Naruto winced as the tent rang with applause, and wondered for a moment why Maro-Master spoke like that. It made him sound like a simpleton.

The thought was shoved out of his head and he gasped as he saw who it was appearing before the crowds now – Kakashi-sir and the two missing kits! Their clothing had changed to colourful outfits and their weapons were gone – or at least carefully concealed – but Naruto had no trouble in recognising them.

"Sasuke-kit!" he said, turning to appeal to the human for answers, "Kakashi-sir is out there!"

Sasuke-kit looked irritated. "Yeah, no duh," he grumbled. "They're out there, pretending to be circus creeps, while I'm here babysitting you. Idiot."

Naruto frowned – he didn't understand, but he perceived that he would get nothing further from Sasuke-kit. Tilting his head, he watched as the Sakura-kit settled herself in a pose with her back to a wall, closely surrounded by several brightly coloured, air-filled sacks of rubber that Master's young one used to play with, when he was still young. They were called 'balloons', and had a tendency to explode with a heart-stopping bang at random intervals.

Humans had weird habits and playthings.

Naruto watched with interest as Kakashi-sir and Toshi-kit produced several ornamented knives and the audience went deadly quiet. He was confused, and the confusion only grew as Kakashi-sir looked directly at Sakura-kit and made a show of aiming his knife, as if he was going to –

He _threw_ it, right at his own kit! Naruto felt the air leave his lungs in a horrified whoosh as his eyes traced the spinning blade through the air as if it flew on its lazy arc in slow motion. It was going to – no, wait, it wouldn't hit Sakura-kit, it would be a near-miss.

The blade hit the board behind Sakura-kit's back, dead-centre in one of the balloons. The bubble exploded with a bang, and Naruto flinched. Maybe the goal was to throw knives without hitting the kit? That didn't make sense, but Naruto couldn't connect Kakashi-sir with the image of this man throwing knives at his most gentle, well-behaved kit. It made no sense.

Then again, it was only _slightly_ more sensible to throw knives _around_ his most gentle, well-behaved kit as some form of game or exercise. Maybe the balloons were there to warn the humans when they were getting too close to her?

But no, Kakashi-sir aimed again, taking his time, and again his blade popped a balloon, this one directly above Sakura's head.

Naruto winced, but the humans made a racket, banging their hands together and whistling. Sakura-kit hadn't moved an inch, nor did she look particularly worried.

Naruto frowned as Kakashi gestured Toshi-kit forward to applause.

She was just standing there – not restrained – as her fath – no, _teacher_, whatever that was – and fellow kit threw knives at her while a great many of their kinsmen looked on. Perhaps this was a declaration of trust: a measure of how in tune this odd group was? That would make sense in an odd sort of way.

Satisfied with this explanation, Naruto watched with interest as Kakashi-sir and Toshi-kit quickly destroyed the remaining balloons around Sakura.

When it seemed they were done, Maro-Master took a step forwards, but Sakura-kit just bent and picked up a piece of red fruit that she had set at her feet. Naruto sniffed – through the heavy air, he could hardly discern the sweet smell of a peach, but he managed to identify it as Sakura-kit placed it in her hand and lifted it. The crowd murmured: to hit that, the knife-thrower would have to aim between her fingers.

When Kakashi-sir nodded at Toshi-kit, a louder, almost protesting murmur rang through the crowd. They had obviously expected the adult to take this shot, rather than the trainee child.

Honestly, Naruto agreed with them, and he held his breath as Toshi-kit threw his blade.

There was a splattering noise as the peach was hit, and Sakura-kit laughed as she dropped the tattered remains and reached to wipe some juice that had splattered her face away, the sound echoing and sparking a wave of relieved laughter and applause among the watching humans.

Naruto grinned – that had been cool. The applause continued, and there were a few whistles – obviously the show had been a success. Then, before the applause had even died and without warning, Kakashi-sir threw one last knife, arching it through the air gracefully towards Sakura-kit's head. Several humans screamed and Naruto froze, unable to even close his eyes to avoid the sight of Kakashi-sir murdering his girl-kit.

He needn't have worried. The knife just skipped past her head, catching the large, pretty flower Sakura-kit had placed in her hair and pinning it to the board with the burst balloons.

There was a moment of absolute silence, before noise exploded in the tent, humans screaming and calling. Even the Sasuke-kit looked mildly impressed.

"Show off," he scoffed.

"Ah, now, Sasuke," Kakashi-sir said, slipping out of the arena and into the alcove where the pair were sheltering in time to hear the comment, Toshi-kit and Sakura-kit close behind him, "We had to make it look like we were skilled enough _not_ to be ninja, get it?"

"Not really," Sasuke-kit replied. "But don't explain: I don't care."

"How did you throw your blades like that?" Naruto asked curiously. "I've seen my Handlers do it, too, but never at their own kits."

Kakashi-sir smiled sheepishly. "Well, no, it _is _sort of odd to do what I just did," he agreed. "But you've used kunai before, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Of course," he said. "But never like that. Knives are for stabbing, slashing, tools when claws don't work. I know they can be thrown, but I suppose my kind don't have the…"

"Fine motor skills?" Toshi-kit suggested dryly. Naruto shrugged: he didn't know what that meant.

"Now, Toshi, that's enough," Kakashi-sir intervened. "Come on – we should change. Naruto, let that go, please."

Naruto looked up from where he'd caught hold of Kakashi-sir's sparkly new belt.

"But I like your new clothes!" he protested, saddened by the thought that Kakashi-sir was going to revert back to his dull other clothing.

Kakashi-sir sighed heavily. "Naruto," he said patiently, "Ninja do _not _wear sequins."


	7. Jinchuuriki

Twin1: Whimper. (ducks) Don't kill me! I'm sorry this took so long! I don't know _why, _this was written before I even posted the last chapter. I choose to blame my editor.

Twin2: Leave me out of this. You forgot to write the middle scene until last night, remember?

Twin1: SHADDUP!

**

* * *

**

Chapter Six: Jinchuuriki

Naruto lifted his head suddenly, stilling his movements. His head tilted back, raising his nose as he tried to find the scent he thought he'd caught a flash of on the warm morning breeze. It didn't take Kakashi-sir long to notice that he had stopped moving, and make his way back through the moving circus to reach him.

"Naruto? Hey, Naruto, are you alright?" he asked, reaching to touch the frozen child. Naruto turned confused, gentle eyes to the human, a frown caressing his golden face.

"There's something…" he trailed off then, distracted in tone and stance. Kakashi-sir clicked his fingers before the jinchuuriki's face, making Naruto jump and snap to attention. "Sorry, sir!" he said automatically.

Kakashi-sir was watching him carefully, wearing a – suspicious? Confused? Worried? Naruto wasn't sure – expression as he carefully placed a hand on Naruto's arm.

"You don't have to call me sir, just try to keep, up," he said. Naruto nodded obediently, making to follow the Handler to catch up to the group they were guarding, but froze when he caught the strange smell again, stronger this time.

A moment later, chaos exploded.

Screams echoed as a group of humans – _seven male one female two males kits one male alpha heading leader there! _– launched themselves from the trees on either side of the road, catching the circus in a perfect ambush-type attack.

Naruto froze, watching the humans under his Handler and Kakashi-sir react, watching the humans under Maro-Master scramble to run, to hide in their lumbering wagons and caravans, as the newcomers dispersed throughout and began attacking, shoving people aside as they rifled through the humans' possessions.

He felt himself instantly in battle-mode, his claws lengthening and hardening into cruel points, his canine teeth extending and sharpening until they reached his chin, something under his skin bubbling with the horrible heat that came with bloodshed.

Then the Sasuke-kit attacked one of the invaders, drawing blood with his knife, and suddenly Naruto was wrestling with his dark side once more.

**Intruders! Kill them! Tear them apart and drink their blood! Scatter their teeth and feast on their flesh!**

_No! Humans... can't attack without orders_, Naruto told himself. _I have to wait... can't... _

**Ah, I smell it, the blood, the fear. I want to cause it – I want to feel their lifeforce on my claws, soaking my fur, I want to watch their terror as their life fades away – **

_I cannot attack humans without orders_! Naruto screeched in his mind, _Not without orders! Never without orders! Master must say to attack! I must not –_

"Naruto!"

Kakashi-sir's shout had Naruto looking up, his dark side wrenching enough control to make him hopeful. He was hard to hear through the clash of battle and screams of frightened humans, but Naruto narrowed his eyes and focused his hearing on the man.

"Move!" he was shouting. "Get around behind-"

He was cut off as he moved to engage one of the invading men, but the damage was done. A shudder ran through the entirety of Naruto's frame as the words echoed in his head – a command.

A command his Handlers used. A battle instruction.

Suddenly, it was enough, and Naruto was lost in the confusing sea that was his dark side. The blonde surrendered himself to the feeling, letting his conscious, gentle self fall and fade and be smashed to pieces by the all-consuming ocean of bloodlust and rage that rode through him, raising him up and filling him like a drug.

His lips drew back in a feral snarl, and he leapt into the fray, a mindless machine of destruction.

* * *

Kakashi hadn't been surprised by the attack, not really: this area was infamous for its bandits. Indeed, it seemed that they had been attacked by a band of ex-ninja – probably not high-level: no more skilled than chuunin, after whatever valuables the circus happened to be carrying.

The jounin took a moment to let a sneer curl his hidden lips at the thought of shinobi stooping so low as to use their skills for petty theft and highway robbery, as he raced to meet them head-on.

He was close enough to see surprise flit across the face of one of the men – wearing a slashed Kiri hitai-ate – as Sasuke intercepted him, getting in a good blow with his kunai before they skidded apart.

"Ninja!" he spat, disgusted, inspecting his injured arm and then peering at his attacker. "From Konoha?"

"No, we're from the Village Hidden in the Sarcasm," Toshi drawled, somehow mixing mockery and brawling as he chose to forgo taijutsu and simply tackle a small, thirteen-ish boy to the ground and deal him several rabbit punches to the face before he was grabbed and dragged back by one of the boy's allies.

Kakashi fended off an attack and looked around, eye widening when he saw Naruto, pale and frozen, eyes flashing disconcertingly from red to blue and swirling rapidly.

"Naruto!" he hollered to his Sensei's child, "Move! Get around behind-" He broke off and dealt a punishing blow to one of the raiders, protecting a clown in the process, before finishing, "-the wagons, hide!"

A shudder ran down his back as he suddenly felt a wave of power being released, power he hadn't felt in fifteen years.

Kyuubi.

Frightened, he spun around to see the source of the power – _was Kyuubi back? Had it escaped? Was he going to die here?_ – and saw a sight that truly, utterly terrified him.

Naruto had dropped forward onto all fours as his posture changed noticeably. Red chakra swirled around him, and his features became more animal and wild. His eyes were blood red and glowing as he snarled, and Kakashi's heart lurched to see Sensei's face mutating into such a feral countenance.

With a battle-scream that turned his blood to half-frozen slush, Naruto launched himself into the fight, and Kakashi gasped in horror as the boy Toshi had knocked over was torn to pieces in an instant by the enraged jinchuuriki.

As Naruto wheeled, leaping onto the back of another of the nuke-nin and burying his fangs viciously into the man's neck, claws tearing bloody gouges in his chest and sides, the Hatake was confronted for the first time with exactly what Minato had done to this child, exactly what he contained.

The realisation sparked a spiral of memories that crashed over him: Kyuubi, attacking the village; Minato, tears marking his face as he drew the seal; the bodies piled on the battlefield; the screams of the wounded…

Panting, Kakashi flickered his chakra, the signal he had practiced to bring his genin team to his side. Thankfully, they obeyed his call for once, flocking to his side, questions in their faces.

He didn't bother to answer their queries, grabbing Sakura and Toshi around their waists and dragging them backwards, settling behind an overturned wagon and forcing them to their knees.

"Stay here!" he ordered, grabbing Sasuke and adding him to the pile. "No, I mean it! This just got very dangerous, and I promise you, if you try to fight this battle, you _will_ die! This time you _will_ obey me, and you _will_ stay _right here_."

Not giving them any chance to protest, Kakashi bolted back out to the fight, rapidly bundling the circus folk out of the way, forcing them together and guiding them to relative safety.

Finally, it seemed most of the people he was employed to protect were reasonably safe and Kakashi was free to turn back to watch the destruction.

The missing nin had obviously decided to cut their losses and flee, and were scrambling to evacuate. Kakashi watched as Naruto chased and attacked them one by one, following a fairly primal pattern of leaping onto their backs and tearing at their vulnerable throat and gut, leaving them in pieces by the time he felled them.

It was over suddenly, and what seemed like too quickly. Kakashi estimated that around half of the attacking force had managed to escape, and blinked in surprise at the way Naruto didn't stray out of sight of the circus party, just chasing the enemy to some invisible limit in an attempt to kill them before they crossed it.

When it was done, Naruto slowly turned in a circle, head swaying back and forth as he searched for survivors. He crept, still on all fours, past the remains of his victims, sniffing each one as if to confirm that it was dead.

Eventually, his circuit brought him face-to-face with Kakashi, and the Hatake tensed, not quite sure if he needed to be ready to fight off the boy or not.

Naruto settled back on his changed haunches and watched him with those knowing red eyes, blood covering him and dripping from his golden hair. It took a moment for Kakashi to realise he was _waiting_, and swallowed the fear in his throat nervously.

Should he…? It was worth a shot, right?

"Enough, Naruto," he said, more firmly than he felt. "I want you to stop now."

The effect was instantaneous. Blue flooded back into his eyes, mingling with the red to form the odd mixture Kakashi was used to, and the boy's features became instantly more human, back to what they were before the attack.

For a moment, a split second, they stared at each other, before Naruto crumpled forwards, collapsing face-down in the dirt with a moan, and lay still.

Very, _very_ carefully, Kakashi crouched next to him and tentatively placed a hand on his head, then shifted it down to take the kid's pulse. His heart was beating, so he carefully rolled Naruto over onto his back, ignoring the protesting whimper and the way Naruto attempted to curl up.

He seemed to be asleep. Exhausted.

Maybe… drained?

Gathering Naruto's form up in his arms, he stood warily and called to the others in general.

"Okay! Show's over, people – we can keep moving. Everybody up, let's go."

Slowly, movement stirred around him as people began creeping out of their hiding places. In a wave of pink, Maro scrambled out from under a wagon and trotted to join Kakashi.

"What the hell was that, ninja?" he demanded. Kakashi adjusted Naruto in his arms.

"Naruto has a unique gift," he said guardedly.

"I'll say!" scoffed Maro. "More like he's half-animal. Now, it's not escaped my notice he hasn't done much of anything around here, an' I definitely think a feral half-human like that would be a nice addition to my show. How d'you make him turn it on?"

"Turn it on?" Kakashi snapped, his nerves frayed to breaking point by the battle. "Naruto is not a radio, or a performing poodle! And as for 'not much of anything', take a _good_ look around you. See the four _butchered_ nuke-nin? Naruto did _all_ of that."

With an angry huff, he left to check on his other students, leaving Maro scowling amongst the carnage.

* * *

Sarutobi was just about to finish the third draft of an official announcement concerning the policing of water access and various legislative changes thereof which had been due to be released… Tuesday last week.

With a bit of a sigh, he moved to dip his brush into his inkwell to add his signature on the tail of the scroll. Once he did that, this stupid thing would be done and dusted, ready for distribution. The brush ducked into the neck of the glass inkwell, and came up just as dry as it had entered. Sarutobi checked the small glass bottle and realised that yes, he had run out of ink.

"Oh, for the love of… Akirai!" He raised his voice to call for the chuunin just outside the door. The door opened and the woman in uniform outside poked her head in.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Please fetch me some more ink," the Sandaime requested politely. Akirai's head bobbed as she bowed a little.

"Yes, sir. Sir, Morino Ibiki has arrived. Should I let him in?"

Sarutobi looked up, surprised. "Oh, of course. Yes, let him in."

The chuunin disappeared and a moment later the scarred Head of Torture and Interrogation Division was walking into the room, a manila folder tucked under his left arm. "Hokage-sama," Ibiki greeted, nodding his head.

"Ibiki," Sarutobi replied in turn, indicating with his depressingly ink-free brush for Ibiki to come in and stand before the desk. "I take it you have some news for me?"

The interrogator nodded tightly, moving closer and offering the file to his leader. "We have finally tracked down the man who purchased Uzumaki Naruto from his abductor," he said without flinching or sugar-coating. Sarutobi felt a jolt run up his spine like electricity, and reached for the file a little _too_ eagerly.

The day Naruto had shown him that little copper plate secured to the nape of his neck, Intelligence had been trying to locate his so-called 'master'. Flipping the file open, Sarutobi looked over its contents, a series of facts about one Nakamura Makoto.

An incredibly rich, incredibly paranoid, incredibly well-insulated member of Tea Country, making him an untouchable political target.

Damn it. Bang went 'abduct and assassinate' as an option.

"What can you tell me about him?" the Hokage asked, trusting Ibiki to distil out the important information while he perused its entirety at his leisure. Ibiki clasped his hands behind his back and began to speak.

"Nakamura is rich and isolated. His property is in the middle of Tea Country, well defended. Officially, he's as straight-laced as they come, not so much as a late tax return to his name. Unofficially…"

"Unofficially?" Sarutobi prompted. Ibiki gave a wry smile.

"Pick a felony. He's not a crime lord – closer to a corrupt politician, actually – but his name can be linked to kidnappings, assassinations, tax evasions, smuggling, theft, blackmail, rigged elections, bribery, and all number of other things that make us shinobi all tingly inside." Sarutobi normally chuckled at Ibiki's comments of this nature: today he just shook his head.

"The long and short of it is that he's powerful. I don't think we can take him on and come away without sparking another war," the Torture and Interrogation specialist admitted. The Sandaime nodded, leaning back in his chair and placing a hand over his eyes with a tired sigh.

"I was afraid of that," he admitted. No matter how dear Naruto was to him, or how much he wanted to hurt the man who had destroyed the boy, the cost would be too high, the danger too great to risk on one (arguably unsalvageable) life anyway.

"Nakamura seems to be a collector of sorts – I believe he has gathered several other jinchuuriki besides Naruto, but my informants are annoyingly tight-lipped on the subject." Ibiki crossed his arms and gave an annoyed sort of grunt. "Besides, they're affiliated with the other hidden villages, not with us, so it doesn't really matter. Still, if it comes down to it, Nakamura may well send them to retrieve Naruto. Even a single jinchuuriki could… well, I'm sure I don't need to tell you, sir, what demons are capable of." The old Hokage nodded grimly, feeling his heart grow cold at the thought of two or more humans wielding the powers of Hell at their fingertips tearing down the village walls to get to Naruto.

"And the collar?" he asked, knowing the answer. Ibiki shook his head.

"Kakashi was right – chakra-sensitive alloy. Damn thing's stuck there. Short of abducting whoever put it on, I can't find a way of getting it off without killing the kid."

The old Hokage sighed again and nodded his acceptance wearily. "I understand, Ibiki."

There was a knock on the door before it opened, revealing the chuunin Sarutobi had sent in search of ink. She came in quickly, giving Ibiki a respectful wide berth, and placed the ink on the leader's desk, taking the empty inkwell with her when she retreated.

"For now, I think the best course of action is to do nothing," he decided when she was gone and the door was closed. "Naruto still has no understanding of the truth, and would as soon return to Nakamura as stay – sooner, actually, I get the feeling he's counting the days until he can return. Until we sway him, there is little we can do."

Ibiki nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama," he said. He left quietly, and Sarutobi took a moment to settle his disappointment before he dipped his brush into his new inkwell and lowered it to the scroll he'd been working on to add his signature.

As he applied pressure to the brush to write, the stick of wood snapped along a fault line, splattering ink all over his announcement as the brush broke.

"Oh for the love of the gods!"

* * *

Naruto was floating, riding that warm fuzzy feeling that always filled him in moments like this, drifting back and forth on the lull of sleep. A satisfied rumble echoed in his belly and mind, comforting in its familiarity and warmth, reminding him of the vague, shadowy times he could remember when he was a kitling, when Master would pick him up and cradle him and pet him and call him good boy.

But he was no longer a kit, and Master's arms were not holding him like one. He was lying flat, face-down, on a not-hard-not-soft surface. In fact, it was quite uncomfortable. And slightly damp.

Something was tickling his nose every time he breathed in. Naruto huffed irritably, but it failed to banish the annoying feather-light brushes. Each breath drew in the scent of crushed grass and dried mud-turned-dirt-turned-mud-turned-dirt, combining with the smell of humans all around him.

He was settled on the ground, then. On a patch of mostly-dirt, kinda-grass.

There was a rock digging into his hip painfully.

Naruto let out a grumpy little growl and finally conceded defeat. He was awake.

Opening his eyes blearily, he raised his head off the arms he'd been using as a pillow and squinted down at them, wincing as his skin pulled uncomfortably. His arms were splashed with dried blood, and he dipped his head to lick it away absently, taking a moment to miss Yugito – she would have done it for him, while he was sleeping.

"Naruto?"

Kakashi-sir! The Handler's voice brought back everything that had happened in a rush, and Naruto looked up cautiously, ducking his head as he did so. Kakashi was sitting on a log right next to him, a bowl of half-eaten food on his lap, mask perfectly in place.

"Hey," the human said, reaching down to touch him, patting golden hair gently, "How are you feeling?"

Naruto frowned, unsure what to make of the question. After some consideration, he decided to disregard it and instead asked, "Kakashi-sir? Did… did I please you?"

There was a long pause, and Naruto flinched at the blank expression on his Handler's face, looking away, ashamed. Now that his head was clear of the heat battle caused, he could see objectively that he had done a horrible job at following his Handler's orders. He hadn't been able to obey the one command he'd been given: to get around behind the attacking force, trap and destroy them – he knew at least half of them had escaped. Kakashi-sir was probably greatly disappointed.

"Naruto…" Kakashi-sir sounded distant, almost muffled. Naruto flinched, ashamed of his conduct. "You think that…"

"I'm sorry!" Naruto burst out, cringing down onto the ground, so his chest was flush against the dirt. "I'll do better next time, I promise! I was trained better than this, I promise!" He was feeling vaguely hysterical, truth be told, knowing that he was most likely going to be punished or at the very least forced into some harsh training for this little incident.

"You were trained as an assault weapon." Kakashi-sir's tone didn't seem to be directed at him anymore: it was quiet and… sad? "To follow orders in a battle… Naruto." Abruptly, his tone changed to something commanding, "You did well. I am proud of your performance."

Naruto sagged with relief, going back to licking away the traces of the fight. He almost didn't hear Kakashi-sir's quiet sigh as the human stood and moved to fetch a wet cloth.

* * *

Naruto frowned with confusion – and truth be told, no little irritation – as the strange pink man prodded him through the bars of the cage again. He was muttering something about 'turning it on', but Naruto had no idea what he meant. Humans were so _weird…_ And while the stick was annoying, it wasn't like it was doing any damage…

"Ow!" he yelped, as the next poke turned sharp very abruptly, and his scowl deepened as he swatted away the knife.

**Okay, this human is **_**seriously **_**asking for it, **his dark side snarled, and Naruto froze, backing quickly away from the next poke and fighting desperately to remain in control. This was one of the humans he wasn't _allowed _to hurt, he _couldn't _hurt this one, it was _important –_

**Ow! That one **_**really hurt**_**! Grr…**

Naruto felt his dark side bubble up and narrowed his eyes angrily at the stupid human who was jabbing at him with the hated stick-that-is-also-a-knife – the Handlers at home had used one on Mirasu frequently when he got dangerous. Maro-Master prodded him again and he yelped, before shoving himself against the bars of the cage he'd been shoved into, making the whole box wobble.

The man mumbled something – maybe 'Getting there', but it was hard to understand this human – and Naruto managed to wrestle his dark side away again, mentally equating his internal struggle with forcing the darkness inside a box and sitting on the lid to get it to stay there.

Suddenly, there was movement, and Naruto's eyes snapped up to see Kakashi-sir tear the curtain aside – they were in a small tent that had been erected for the animals' cages to be stored in, out of public eye – and push inside, anger roiling off him in tangible waves that made Naruto flinch.

There was a moment in which the jounin just stared at the sight before him, not believing what his eye was telling him, before he stepped forwards with a growl that would make Yugito proud and said in a low, gravelly voice, "What the _fuck_ do you think you are doing?"

What followed was a confusing blur to Naruto, as Kakashi-sir assaulted Maro-Master, grabbing his pink clothing and slamming him against the cage hard enough that Naruto was certain he heard the crack of a rib or two. Kakashi-sir was snarling, hissing words out in a tangled jumble, killer intent pulsing furiously.

"What in Hell made you think I'd accept this?" he was snarling, his face barely three inches from Maro-Master's. "Didn't I make it _absolutely clear_ that you were not to touch this boy! That he was to be left alone! Come on, explain to me now how you thought that _locking him in a cage_ and _torturing him _falls into the 'leaving him alone' category."

Naruto whimpered, crouching low. He had never seen Kakashi-sir as angry as he was right now, and it frightened him.

The noise seemed to remind Kakashi-sir of his presence, and the human blinked, his single eye looking over Maro-Master's shoulder at the jinchuuriki, ignoring Maro-Master's spluttering.

In a single motion, Kakashi-sir shoved Maro-Master aside and pulled the cage door open, reaching inside towards Naruto. Naruto flinched away from his touch, ducking lower to the steel floor of the cage and half-raising a hand to ward off any blows or cruel grabs.

Kakashi-sir's breath caught in his throat, but he just took a deep breath and said in a level, if slightly shaking, voice, "It's okay, Naruto. I'm not going to hurt you. Just, come out of there. As long as you serve under me, you are not to enter any cage without my explicit and repeated instruction. Do you understand?"

A shiver of horror ran through Naruto. Of course Kakashi-sir was mad! He'd been obeying another like a Master – out of fear, though mostly the fear was that he wouldn't be able to control his dark side whenever Maro-Master started ordering him around. Hadn't Kakashi-sir _told_ him he only took orders from Kakashi-sir?

"I'm sorry!" he blurted as Kakashi-sir finally took hold of his collar and pulled him out of the cage, his hands surprisingly gentle – when his Handlers back home pulled him anywhere, it was always rough enough to bruise. "Maro-Master, he said you wanted me to – I – just thought that – he said you'd said to put me out in front of all the people out there tonight! I thought I was doing what you wanted," Naruto pleaded as he found himself set on his feet, cringing and begging Kakashi-sir with his eyes to understand and go easy on him. He didn't want to be beaten.

Kakashi-sir drew in a sharp breath, and Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, leaning away unconsciously as he waited for the furious tirade and/or physical correction. All he got, however, was still-too-gentle hands on his shoulders and a little shake, just enough to make his eyes flick up to meet Kakashi-sir's serious, concerned expression.

"Naruto, I'd never do that," he said. Maro-Master said something, his words more unintelligible than usual as he held his throat where Kakashi-sir had applied pressure, and Kakashi-sir _snarled_, jerking Naruto closer to him as the blonde yelped and placing hands on the teen's arms almost protectively. "If you even _glance_ at Naruto again," Kakashi-sir promised in a deadly voice, "I will not only return to Konoha without seeing this mission through, but I will destroy you all and report a mission failure upon our return home. Am I understood?"

Naruto flinched at the shouted last sentence so close to him, and Maro-Master muttered something, a resentful agreement. Kakashi-sir snapped at last, "Get out of my sight," at the other human before he slipped his arm _right around_ Naruto and guided him from the spot, pulling him through the crowd of people preparing for the show that evening and finally settling him in a quiet spot on the edge of the camp, in the trailer of an empty wagon.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi-sir asked, sitting next to him and trailing his hands over the mostly-healed place Maro-Master had stuck him with the stick-knife.

"M'fine, sir," Naruto mumbled, looking away, forehead furrowed in confusion. "I… I will heal within a few minutes."

"Good," Kakashi-sir allowed, "But that's not what I meant. Are _you_ okay? I know you were frightened…" he trailed off, waiting for Naruto to fabricate an answer.

Naruto found himself unable to pull one together. He was so confused, the question seemed to be the tipping point to send his mind swirling into chaos.

Why was Kakashi-sir so nice to him? Always, he was _always_ nice to him.

**He's fooling you**, his dark side growled in the depths of his mind, but Naruto effortlessly shoved it down and closed the lid of the mental box again without even processing what it had said.

It made no sense. Suddenly, he had to ask, no matter how insulting the question would be to Kakashi-sir, no matter how he was punished for it. Naruto tried to stop it, but it bubbled up his throat and just tumbled out.

"Why do you act like this around me?" he blurted. "I mean, you treat me like… like I'm worth… something. I'm not, I'm a pet, I'm an animal, and it makes no sense what you do!"

For a moment, there was dead silence, and Naruto dipped his head, tears forming in his eyes. Why had he done that? Had he made Kakashi-sir angry? Had he ruined everything?

Kakashi-sir shifted just a little, before he said carefully, "Naruto, I treat you like this… because you are like me. We aren't different."

Naruto froze. Had he heard that right? No. No, it wasn't possible. His eyes slowly rose to lock on the hu- the _Handler's_ single one, searching for some hint that this was a cruel joke, a sort of mental torture, punishment.

"You… you're a… a jinchuuriki, too?" he said, his voice dropping to a whisper as he mouthed the unthinkable words. A flicker passed over Kakashi-sir's face.

"I…" he hesitated, obviously torn over what to say. "Naruto, you and me, we're not a different species, we're… you're part of the same group as me."

Naruto tilted his head, confused. "…So you _are_ a jinchuuriki?" he pressed. Again, indecision danced over Kakashi-sir's face. For a long moment, he was silent, before he seemed to reach his decision and nodded, once.

A jolt ran through Naruto's whole body at the confirmation.

"But you're a Handler," he blurted, actually _feeling _the world tumble as someone tipped it upside down. Kakashi-sir nodded again.

"Yes – in Konoha, jinchuuriki… are seen as… more than animals, Naruto. That's why you sleep indoors and eat human food – they view you – _us – _as capable of higher thinking, as… people. I teach three human kids… do you see now? Do you understand?"

"You're like me," Naruto repeated faintly. Kakashi-sir nodded again, hesitating as he debated what to say next, how to handle this.

"Actually, we're… very close to being brothers, Naruto," he said carefully. "Your father was my teacher, and he raised me after my father died."

"My father?" Predictably, Naruto sat up straighter at the mention of the man. Then he tipped his head and frowned. "What was he treated like? Was he considered a… _person_… too?"

Kakashi-sir blinked. "You… you think your father was a jinchuuriki?" he asked. Naruto blinked back.

"Well, yeah," he said, sounding mystified – humans were _weird_ – as he reached to tug on his collar. "I mean, I'm completely jinchuuriki, not half-jinchuuriki, half-… something else."

Kakashi hesitated. He was going to regret asking this, but…

"Naruto, how do you think… how do you think jinchuuriki are made?"

Naruto shrugged, even though his neck began to feel a little hot and bothered, like his collar was too tight and hot. "The same way any animal reproduces, I guess," he said uncomfortably. "A tom and a bitch and…" he demonstrated with a hand gesture, then shrugged again. "I don't get it, really."

The three square inches of Kakashi-sir's face that was visible had turned a pinkish colour, and he looked away. "Good enough," he mumbled. "Okay, fine. We'll go with that. Yes, Sensei – your father – was the same species as both you and me."

Naruto nodded, eyes lighting up. "You were part of my father's pack," he said, summarising the hu – no, _other jinchuuriki's_ cutely human way of talking. "Part of my pack, now?" he added hopefully, looking up cautiously. Kakashi-sir nodded.

"If you want," he said, his tone careful. "But, Naruto – _please_ don't call me 'sir'."


	8. A Day In The Life

Well, people, welcome back. This chapter is dedicated to Moon Howling Banshee, for reminding us it was time to update. You were right, by the way, to appeal to Twin1. Twin1 went 'aw, of course I'll update!' and immediately went about fixing up your chapter. Twin2 just laughed. (She's mean like that.)

* * *

Chapter Seven – A Day in the Life

Toshi groaned as he opened his eyes to the dawn light streaming in through the tattered curtains.

Mornings. He fucking hated mornings.

With a heavy sigh, he rolled over and let himself fall out of his lumpy bed, landing on his feet easily. They had returned home yesterday, just after dusk, and Toshi bit down a guilty feeling of regret that they were not still out in the field.

He padded out to the kitchen and froze. The window was shattered, letting cold air blow into the room, dew settled on everything. Carefully avoiding the shards of glass everywhere, he cautiously approached the paper-wrapped rock in the middle of the room that had obviously been the weapon used to cause the damage and lifted it, quickly unwrapping the paper to read what was written on it.

_Terrorists. Go home_. Toshi snorted tiredly. Oh, how original. From the unsteady, misshapen kanji, he'd guess the vandals were drunk.

Again.

For a moment, just a moment, tears threatened to form. For just a moment, a tiny sliver of time, Toshi allowed himself to feel the hurt that these stupid attacks caused.

Then, he stubbornly shoved it down and sneered.

"Bastards," he snarled to the empty kitchen as he crumpled the note and set it alight with a quick katon jutsu. "'Go home'? I am fucking home. I was fucking born here. Stupid pricks."

"Toshi?"

The teenager turned to see his mother standing in the doorway, hugging herself as she shivered with cold. Toshi felt a jolt as he saw her wearing his father's dressing gown – she had been crying. She only ever wore it when she was crying.

Her face was thin and unnaturally pale; her eyes glazed with fever. There were dark rings under her eyes and she raised a slim hand to cover her mouth as she started a series of racking coughs that shook her whole frame.

"Are you okay?" she asked when she was able to speak, her eyes flitting around the trashed kitchen. "What happened?"

What happened? Anger sparked in the boy at the question and for a moment he wanted to shout, wanted to rage that this was _all her fault_. For an instant, he hated her big, Iwa-brown eyes and her accent that marked her – marked _them_ – as outsiders, outcasts.

Then she looked away as she began to cough again, and the moment passed. Instantly, Toshi felt sick to his stomach at his own thoughts and he moved to the sink, lifting a chipped glass and filling it with water before returning to his mother's side.

"Here," he said, pressing it into her hands. "You go back to bed: you're not well. I'll take care of this. It's just kids being stupid again."

He tried for a smile, and she smiled sadly back at him, not fooled by his brave words. Reaching for him, she cradled his head in her hands and drew him forward, resting her forehead against his in a gesture of affection. Toshi could feel her temperature raging.

"That which is built on rock does not crumble," she whispered faintly. "Stand firm, my son."

_Don't tell me that_, Toshi pleaded mentally. _You're supposed to tell me about the Will of Fire, or quote proverbs about trees._

Out loud he said, "Go back to bed, mum," before pulling away and kneeling to begin clearing up the broken glass.

He was just duct taping a sheet of cardboard over the window until the glass could be replaced when he heard a noise that was definitely not his mother's quiet-but-definitely-civilian steps.

Spinning around, he found himself face-to-face with Sasu-princess. The Uchiha was leaning against the kitchen doorway like he owned the place, watching Toshi work.

Toshi felt himself gearing up defensively. He was already in a bad mood, and today was meant to be a day off. He _could not_ handle any of Sasuke's emo needling today.

"What'd'you want?" he demanded rudely. "This is private property, Uchiha-hime."

Sasuke raised an elegant eyebrow. "Actually, Mutt," he drawled, "This land is rented. From the Uchiha clan. Of which I am the sole survivor. So actually, I am well within my rights to… inspect… the premises."

Toshi growled – he'd known that, of course, but he'd hoped _Sasuke_ hadn't.

He could guess why the other chuunin was here. The rent hadn't been paid in three weeks now; their bond was almost used up. Things were tight with money normally, but for the last few weeks they'd been given nothing but D-ranks: minimum wage work. Toshi had had to choose between sending rent and buying his mother's medicine.

Guess which one he chose.

Narrowing his eyes, Toshi waited for his teammate to smugly inform him of his debt and remind him that he had a week to somehow come up with a month's worth of rent before his family was turfed out on the curb. He wasn't going to start the conversation, he wasn't going to roll over and show his belly to this bastard. If he was going down, he was going down growling.

Sasuke's dark eyes flicked to the missing window, then skittered over the bare, slightly dirty kitchen before returning to Toshi's face.

"I'm going training," he announced. "You coming?"

Toshi, all ready for a fight, was thrown for a loop. "What?" he said cluelessly, trying to catch up with the abrupt and unexpected change in topic.

Sasuke's eyebrow raised higher. "Training. We ninja do that," he said seriously. "Are. You. Coming? Sakura's waiting out front, so make up your mind."

Toshi hesitated. It _was _his day off, and they had _just_ gotten back from a week-long mission, but…

But.

"Let me change, I'll be out in five minutes," he said decisively. Sasuke pushed off the doorway and made his way back to the front door.

"I'm timing," he said loftily, not looking back. "Take any longer and we'll go without you."

Toshi raced through changing, stopped by his mother's room to tell her he was going out and pass her the right pills for her to take in the morning, and joined the two out the front with eight seconds to spare.

Sakura smiled at him, murmuring a 'good morning'. Sasuke didn't give any indication that he knew Toshi had joined them, just beginning to walk away, obviously heading towards the training grounds. Somehow, though, he didn't need to say anything.

Somehow, just being there was enough.

* * *

Hours later, the three of them were pleasantly tired. The team had started off with some teamwork-building drills, in order to "scare the pants off Sensei when we use our new skills to frisk him and get that damn book once and for all!" as Toshi put it happily. Then, Sasuke and Sakura had started a spar while Toshi worked on building his chakra bank, and Sasuke had accidentally knocked into him, resulting in a free-for-all fight that had degenerated into a water war when the trio had tumbled into the river.

After they had stretched out in the sun long enough for their clothes to dry, Sakura had announced that She Was Hungry and Screw Her Diet, so Toshi had suggested they go get some ramen.

Cheap, filling, reasonably tasty, and Sasu-princess disliked it. What better food could there be? Well, except dango. Dango was the food of the gods.

"Come on, milady," he drawled, jumping to his feet and offering his hand to haul Sasuke up as well. Sasuke accepted it, but apparently only so that he could punch Toshi solidly in the shoulder when Toshi pulled him to his feet.

Wincing, Toshi let Sasuke go and rubbed at his shoulder. "Should have seen that one coming," he admitted ruefully. Sasuke smirked.

"Idiot."

"Come on, let's go eat," Sakura urged, slipping between them and linking an arm with each of her boys. Sasuke grunted his agreement, and Toshi grinned at her.

"Sure," he said, choosing for once to forgo a sarcastic comment.

Together, the three of them made their way to the local ramen stall, Ichiraku's, and ate their fill.

"So what now?" Sakura asked, handing over payment for her bowl and smiling in thanks at the old man who ran the ramen stall. "Do you guys still want to hang out, or do you have things to do?"

Sasuke made a noncommittal grunting noise, so she turned to Toshi, who pursed his lips as he thought.

"Well, after that stupid circus of a mission," he said, grinning tightly at his (bad) pun, "I'm feeling rather judged and put down. I feel a need to exert my authority and laugh at other people's ineptness. Everyone? To the ninja Academy, to laugh at the students!"

Sakura giggled, and even Sasuke smirked at the suggestion, and, decided, the team wandered in the general direction of the Academy.

They were passing the Hokage Tower when Sakura caught an arm of each of the boys, checking them, and then pointed towards the big, red building. "Hey, is that Naruto?"

Toshi looked: yes, it was the weird boy who had so unexpectedly been dropped onto their team. The blonde was looking uncomfortable, standing just outside the entrance to the Hokage Tower. Every few moments he would peer in anxiously through the double doors, before his odd eyes flickered up and down the street nervously. His hands were at his throat, playing with the metal band he wore around his neck.

An odd fashion statement, yes, but Toshi wasn't going to comment. Everyone had their kinks.

"He looks lost," Sakura said, sounding worried. Toshi frowned at her.

"Yeah, because it's _really_ easy _not_ to know where you are when, y'know, you stand literally _next_ to Konoha's biggest landmark," he drawled. Sakura swatted him.

"There's something weird about him," she hissed. "He _never_ goes anywhere on his own, remember? And besides, he might not know the way around the village, or something."

"He is usually accompanied by Kakashi," Sasuke observed. "Kakashi was to be disciplined this morning for his conduct on our latest mission, remember?"

Toshi and Sakura both bit back sniggers. They weren't sure _what_ Maro had done to offend him, but it was awfully funny watching Sensei browbeat him into submission.

Though smashing his hand against that wagon _had_ been a little extreme, because as far as anyone could tell all the circus conductor had done was brush past Naruto.

"Do you suppose Kaka-sensei is still in there being chewed out by the Hokage?" Sakura asked, glancing up at the afternoon sun. Both the boys nodded without hesitation. "But he's been there since seven this morning!" she protested.

"First, we all know he arrived late," Sasuke said quietly.

"Thus allowing the Council to work up steam: a mistake by anyone's standards," Toshi added. "We'll be lucky if they finish ranting by the end of next week."

He and Sasuke smirked at each other, each remembering the time they'd been dragged before the Council when they were thirteen to face a charge of torturing a cat instead of rescuing it.

So _totally_ worth the twenty hours of community service and week's docked pay.

Naruto shifted again, chewing his lip and shrinking back against the wall of the Hokage Tower, looking quite uncomfortable on the street alone. Again, he looked over his shoulder almost pleadingly, searching the lobby for someone – probably Kakashi.

Toshi glanced at Sakura's face and groaned.

"I'll get him," he sighed. He peeled off from the group and approached the twitching blonde. "Hey," he grunted. Naruto jerked and spun around to look at him, those disturbingly coloured eyes wide.

After a moment, he relaxed about half a hair and said, almost curiously, almost cautiously, "Toshi-kit?"

At least, that's what it _sounded_ like. The kid had a weird accent, and never spoke up enough to really understand him. In fact – Toshi cast his memory back – this was the first time they'd spoken since the day he'd started a fight with the blonde.

Yeah. He kinda felt guilty about that, so he rubbed at the semi-circular scar Naruto's teeth had left in his wrist and said, "It's just 'Toshi'. Hey, you look lonely. Wanna come hang out with us?"

Naruto stared at him as if Toshi was speaking some weird alien language.

"Leave?" he said, looking back over his shoulder, back into the lobby of the Hokage Tower. "With… you?"

"And Sasuke, and Sakura," he said, pointing at where the pair were waiting. Sakura waved, Sasuke crossed his arms and began tapping his foot.

"But…" Naruto bit his lip, his fingers toying with the – hey, why was he wearing a _collar_? Okay, that was just _weird_. Toshi wondered why he'd never noticed before, and then wondered why he cared. Still, bizarre fashion sense.

"You're waiting on Kakashi-sensei, right?" he pressed. Naruto nodded.

"Kakashi-sir told me to wait in there-" He pointed to the chairs that lined the inside of the lobby, "But the mean person _there-_" He gestured at the chuunin behind the reception, "Told me to leave. Stupid female..."

A laugh was startled out of Toshi at the unexpected humour. "I hear you," he said agreeably, clapping Naruto on the shoulder and charitably ignoring Naruto's flinch.

"Come on," he said, "Let's go."

"But-" Naruto tried again. Toshi cut him off.

"Sensei won't mind," he assured the nervous boy. "He'll probably be quite a while, so… come have some fun with us. Sensei will find us when he's ready."

"Are... you sure?" Naruto asked anxiously. "_Sure_ Kakashi-sir – won't be… mad?"

"I'm positive," Toshi said with confidence. "So? Are you coming?"

Naruto hesitated for a moment longer, then trailed behind Toshi as he walked back to the rest of his team.

"So. Ninja Academy is out," Toshi said as they arrived – after seeing how Naruto was on their C-rank, squad seven had figured out that he – for reasons unknown – didn't do too well with interactions. "What should we do?"

"We should use our time to train," Sasuke replied promptly, as if they _hadn't_ been training all morning. Naruto nodded, eyes lowered to Sasuke's dark look, but Sakura and Toshi stared at him openly.

"Sasuke-kun, I have to ask," Sakura began, "Do you do _anything_ else?" Sasuke fixed her with a blank look.

"I must train to become stronger. I must become stronger to kill my brother," he reeled off matter-of-factly. "What else is there?"

Toshi smirked: that was too good an opening.

"It's called a life, Princess. Get one."

"Kakashi-sir is my kinda-brother," Naruto offered, but the kits didn't seem to hear him as the boys began arguing back and forth, eventually exchanging a few blows but limiting their attacks to reflect the fact that they were on a vastly occupied street.

The Sakura-kit tried to break them up, saying something about, "Boys, please, we've gotten on so well today!" before sighing and making shooing motions with her hands, herding them down the street.

"At least take it to a training field," Sakura sighed, watching as the boys dissolved into arguing and mild brawling. "Naruto? Come on. We can watch these idiots fight this out and make bets on the outcome."

The blonde wore a bemused expression but followed tamely, so Sakura managed to guide these male representatives of her species to the same grounds they had just come from.

There was a brief fight, which Sasuke won, pinning Toshi to the ground and twisting his arm behind him until the half-blood cried for mercy and spouted a series of imaginative curses and oaths, all including Sasuke's bloody demise.

When Sasuke finally got off him, Sakura spoke up.

"What shall we do now?" she asked, her green eyes flickering to where Naruto was watching a butterfly avidly – it was cute how he seemed to be totally fascinated by the insect, but the medic was growing increasingly concerned about the blonde the longer she was in his presence.

There was something not right about him. She suspected some kind of mental impairment that made him act as he did, but so far her research to try and find a condition like Naruto's had come up empty.

"Naruto?" she asked, gentle as always when she spoke to him, "What would you like to play?"

Naruto chewed his lip, looking away. "I don't know any human games," he mumbled quickly.

"Let's play Poison Ball!" Toshi shouted, leaping up from the ground and flicking up a soccer ball. There was a startled pause.

"…Where did you _keep_ that?" Sakura demanded, gesturing at the ball that had materialised. Toshi grinned impishly.

"You'll never know," he said mysteriously. "Let's play!"

Concisely, Sakura explained the basic rules of Poison Ball to a perplexed Naruto – similar to Dodge Ball, Toshi would throw, kick or roll the ball at his teammates in an attempt to hit them. If he managed to, he earned a point and the person he'd 'poisoned' became the next one to attempt to hit people. If someone caught the ball in their hands, they earned a point and Toshi was still in.

Sasuke scoffed at the game when it started, Naruto hesitantly dodging the ball, a tentative smile forming on the edge of his lips, but Toshi soon got him heavily involved when he managed to kick the ball so it pounded between Sasuke's shoulders and holler, "Come on, Princess! Quit being such a lady and play! Or are you too scared I'll _kick your ass_?" simultaneously.

Sasuke growled and launched himself at Toshi, the soccer ball rolling towards Sakura idly. She sighed.

"Sasuke-kun, try to hit him with the _ball_," she called. "You can't punch him – it's against the rules. Besides, balls hurt a lot."

Sasuke grunted, moved to collect the round item, and in half a minute, Toshi was once again 'in'.

Naruto participated as if in a daze, fascinated by this game – reasonably gentle, compared to the games he used to play with the others when he was younger.

Somehow, he felt warmed that they had thought to include him, even if it was only out of pity. He knew that the male kits didn't like him overly, much as they despised each other, and he couldn't figure the Sakura-kit out, so he had assumed that she disliked him as well, just to be safe.

Yet here they were, teaching him to play a _human_-kit game. A fun human-kit game, at that.

As if what Kakashi-sir had said was true.

As if they didn't think he was an animal.

As if his race didn't matter.

It was weird.

_Humans _were weird.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a ball launched unexpectedly at his face, and Naruto squawked, throwing up his hands to catch it, his claws sliding out by reflex.

He caught the ball alright: his claws dug deep furrows in the leather casing, and for a moment, everyone froze.

Naruto's eyes were wide as fear curled its cold tail around him. He dropped the ball, shaking his hands to dislodge it, and flinched away.

Now he'd done it. Now these human kits would be furious. He'd ruined their toy with his carelessness! They would shout, they'd be angry, they'd tell Kakashi-sir of his stupidness and Kakashi-sir would punish him for it and –

"Whoa," the Toshi-kit breathed, bending to pick up the ball and examining the deep furrows in the touch leather casing. Naruto's claws hadn't gone all the way through, so the ball was still usable, but there was no doubt it was damaged beyond repair.

Naruto cringed, waiting for the reaction, waiting for the angry words and possibly even blows, though he wasn't sure he'd stand for _kits_ punishing him.

"Seriously, you've _got _to teach me how to do that," Toshi-kit said firmly. Naruto blinked, eyes jerking up to look at him.

"…Hands up, claws out?" he offered awkwardly. Sasuke-kit was looking at him as if weighing him up.

"You have unusual powers," he said. Naruto shrugged uneasily, made uncomfortable by the kit's dark eyes boring into him.

Sakura came to the rescue, stepping in to say, "Well, let's play something else, then. Naruto, do you know 'Eggs and Baskets'?"

* * *

When Kakashi got out of his meeting, it had been hours since he'd left Naruto in the lobby. Accordingly, he was a lot less surprised than he could have been when Naruto wasn't there.

After speaking with the chuunin behind the reception desk and dousing the woman in enough killer intent to fell a small quadruped when he found out she had sent Naruto out into the street _alone_, Kakashi wandered out into the busy main street in search of his charge.

It was fairly easy for the seasoned tracker to pick out his unique and strong chakra signature, and Kakashi followed the trail directly to the training grounds, where he was confronted with the sight of his genin-turned-chuunin team plus Naruto lolling on the ground looking up at the sky.

Naruto was chewing on a stick, which was making disturbing crackling noises as he bit into it, and Sasuke seemed to be amusing himself by controlling a small jet of fire just before his face, maintaining it constantly.

Sakura was the first to notice him.

"Hi Kaka-sensei, are they all done yelling at you now?" she asked. Kakashi smiled at her as the others all looked around, Naruto with a slightly guilty expression.

"Yes."

"Was it worth it?" Toshi asked cheekily.

"Yes. Now, it's…" he looked up: it was dark. "Late. You three should really go home. Thanks for rescuing Naruto."

Sasuke grunted, rolling so that he could stand up. "We want paid, Sensei," he informed his teacher. Kakashi smiled.

"I'll see what I can do."

He plucked Naruto up off the ground and began to steer him home, sighing heavily as, behind him, Toshi and Sasuke started to fight again.

Ah, well. Some things would never change.

* * *

Around a week later, after a great many more D-ranks and not enough pay, Toshi wandered into the kitchen to find a stranger pulling the cardboard down off his window.

"What the – what the hell are you doing?" he shouted, a kunai snapping into his hand automatically. The man turned and held up his hands in the universal 'don't kill me, I'm harmless' gesture, before reaching carefully for a yellow paper on the bench and offering it to the boy.

Toshi snatched the note, glaring, and skimmed his eyes over it, jerking up to the top to read more carefully before he'd even gotten halfway.

It was a notice from the man who'd been managing their rent since the Uchiha clan had been massacred. Instead of a notice to leave, like he'd expected sometime this week, it was a carefully-worded message detailing that it had been brought to his attention that not all the duties of the lessor were being completed, and that there were repairs that needed to be done that fell under this category.

There was also a note adding that as this had been an ongoing problem, Toshi should send in a list of every repair his family had been wrongfully made to pay for, and he would be reimbursed.

Apparently, the true owner of the property had assented to allowing the cost to be reduced from his rent.

Toshi rolled his eyes, unsure whether to grin, sigh, or hunt down a certain landowner and sock him in the mouth.

"Bastard," he whispered, laying the note back on the counter and turning to leave.

* * *

Twin1: I'm SORRY this took so long! I was... I was...

Twin2: Primarily, she forgot. Seriously, you guys all need to thank Moon Howling Banshee for this, or she'd have left it for at least six months more. (And the chapter was mostly written, too.)

Twin1: Reviews remind me to update! Puppy eyes?


	9. Unpleasant Happenings

**Twin1:** …Hi, everybody. So, I was checking my email and mui had left me a lovely review for Dogtags, to which I had one reaction"I haven't updated that yet? Whoops." So sorry for the wait of… far too long. Here's the next chapter. Unedited (gasp!) because I have two exams in ten days' time. On the same day. Ouch. So yeah, no time for perfecting the chapter. You shall all have to make do with my spell-check-and-a-glance-over-it-for-missing-sections. Oh! A warning: there is a bit of Nasty in this chapter, but it's ONLY this chapter. By next chapter, it'll be a thing of the mentally-traumatic past.

Hope you enjoy anyway, if anyone except mui is still interested in this story. Dedicated to mui for reminding me to update this thing. What is it about Dogtags that makes me just completely forget to update?

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Unpleasant Happenings**

* * *

Naruto twitched in agitation, chewing his lower lip as Hokage-sama unlocked the box that Master's scrolls were kept in, in order to give him his fifth one.

He was late. Very late. A week late.

He still had many scrolls to go.

Master would be furious.

Hokage-sama handed him the fifth scroll, smiling as he did so, and Naruto took it with a slightly shaking hand.

He knew what he had to do: he didn't have to like it.

"H-Hokage-sama," he began, a wobble in his voice, his eyes fixed on the polished wood floor. "I have to leave."

Silence. Even Kakashi-sir lowered his book in shock. Naruto shot the man who had become his Packmate a pleading look, begging him to understand.

"I need to go home," he said.

The old human sat down behind the big desk in the room. "May I ask why?" he said quietly. "Why the sudden urgency? Have you been treated badly here? Has anyone hurt you, or frightened you?"

"NO!" Naruto burst out, before reigning himself in and continuing in a quiet tone, "Everyone's been so... so nice... but I need... I _have _to go home. I _have_ to. Master he said I have to be home in a month, and I'm already late, and so I _have_ to go _now_, without the scrolls if you won't give them to me."

Naruto shuddered at the thought of returning home late, without the full set of scrolls he'd been sent to retrieve, and a little whimper escaped him.

Master was going to be so mad...

There was silence for a very long moment, before Hokage-sama leaned forward and said, "Very well. But just give us a few moments to organise some things first, okay? Do not leave right now, this second."

Naruto nodded, tears wetting his cheeks and dripping off the end of his nose. It _hurt_. He didn't want to leave here, leave Kakashi-sir and the life he had here. But he had no choice. He belonged to Master. What Master did was best for him. He had to go back.

"Please wait in the hall for Kakashi to join you," Hokage-sama was saying, so Naruto made his miserable way out into the hallway to wait.

Inside the office, Kakashi slammed his hands down onto the desk.

"He's _not_ going back!" he snarled, furious. Sarutobi reached for his pipe, a frown furrowing his forehead.

"I am aware of that," he said, stuffing the clay pipe with tobacco and lighting it, "The question is, how do we convince him to stay?"

Kakashi was silent. He had no idea, short of locking the blonde up and throwing away the key. Sarutobi leant back in his chair, gesturing for the jounin to sit. "I'd say it's high time we put those tax dollars to good use," he began, his pipe smoking ominously.

* * *

Sakura was running late. Normally, this wouldn't have caused too much of a panic in her, given how tardy her sensei was _all _the _time_, but today they were meeting in the Hokage's office. She hurried into the large red building and spoke to the chuunin at ground level there to direct traffic. The man grinned at her and waved her through, well aware that he should have seen her at least twenty minutes ago.

The pink-haired medic rushed towards the Hokage's Office, taking stairs two at a time, though she slowed and composed herself before turning the last corner and coming into view of the guards stationed outside the Hokage's door. The ANBU had probably already spotted her undignified display, but there was no helping that.

Naruto was sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the door, just far enough away from it so as not to be in the way of the guards. This in itself was not surprising: ever since Kakashi-sensei had appeared with the unusual teen in tow, he seemed to spend much of his time waiting patiently for the sluggish teacher. What was surprising was that instead of sitting quietly, amusing himself by fiddling with whatever inane object was within reach, the blonde boy looked… upset.

"Naruto?" Sakura knelt near him, ignoring the way one of the guards looked at his watch and cleared his throat. The other teen looked up, his odd eyes full of tears. "Are you alright?"

The odd child opened his mouth, closed it again without saying anything, averted his gaze and nodded. Sakura pursed her lips not convinced by any stretch of the imagination, but really, _really_ late.

"I'll come back and talk to you in a bit," she promised, and straightened to walk into the Hokage's Office.

Inside, there was a small gathering: Kakashi-sensei, Toshi, Sasuke-kun, the Hokage and, alarmingly, Ibiki-san, the man who had proctored her first chuunin exam. Toshi and Sasuke-kun were shunted off to the side, heads swivelling like they were watching a three-way tennis match with numerous balls in play where the rules seemed to revolve around clobbering the competition to death with one's tennis racket. The adults were the players in this game, shouting back and forth in a confusing jumble of arguments that seemed to have no bearing on one another.

Unable to think of anything else to do, Sakura slid into place beside the boys and joined them in trying to track the progress of the… discussion. _I bet anything that this is directly related to why Naruto is so upset._

Kakashi-sensei noticed her well, in fairness, everyone except Toshi noticed her arrival, but Kakashi was the only one to respond to it and broke off his part of the battle to turn to her with a smile and say in his most irritating sing-song voice, "Saku-ra, you're la-ate!"

Sakura smiled. "I found a crying boy and stopped to make sure he was okay," she embroidered. From the flicker of unease in her teacher's sole eye, she had the strange feeling that he knew to whom she was referring, but he didn't question her, returning to the raging debate storming up the Hokage's Office.

Sarutobi seemed to take the reprieve as an opportunity to end the fighting."Sakura-san. Good. I have a mission for you all of you. He began addressing the whole room. "It seems that Naruto is determined to return to his home, and I have decided to have Team Kakashi escort him. You four have watched over him admirably in the last few weeks. Ibiki-san and I were just discussing how best to organise Naruto's permanent transfer to Konoha."

Sakura blinked. "He's not from Konoha?" she said, trying to catch up. Kakashi-sensei piped up.

"He is, he's just… I suppose you could say he was _lost_ when he was very young. Now, we need to figure out a way to keep him, see?" Sakura frowned at the smile her sensei had pasted unconvincingly onto his posture. He seemed very troubled by something.

"I still don't think it's a good idea to let Naruto back to that person." The way Kakashi said the word _person_ hinted that he wanted to replace it with _monster_. He had turned back to appeal to the Hokage. Sarutobi shook his head, smoke curling from his pipe.

"I'm afraid Naruto will not be dissuaded," he said. Ibiki crossed his arms.

"Are you really sure about this?" he asked. "There are a million ways this can go wrong."

"I'm sure," Sarutobi said confidently. "You will take Naruto back to his master. You will make this Makoto my offer. You leave in thirty minutes."

* * *

Kakashi took a breath as he took in the _fortress _Naruto had led them to. He glanced sideways at the blonde, noticing that the closer they got to this place, the stiller and quieter he became. He walked between Sasuke and Toshi, eyes on the ground, hands clutching the sides of his shirt convulsively.

Subtly, Kakashi manoeuvred to stand next to his charge, letting the blonde creep close and press against him.

"You okay?" he asked softly. Naruto nodded.

"Yes," he said agreeably.

"Are you worried because you're late?" the Hatake pressed. Naruto shook his head.

"Can't change it: shouldn't worry about it," he shrugged. He hesitated a beat, and then added, "I'm just... I've never seen a Packmate Handler before. And... I'll miss you."

Kakashi frowned. "Naruto, we're not going to say goodbye forever here. Don't be frightened we're not going to abandon you."

The blonde just smiled sadly and began to speak quietly, turning his gaze back to the ground. "You should tell Ibiki-sir this stuff, okay? Home isn't like Konoha. We are treated with much less grace. You mustn't do anything rash, and don't draw attention to the fact that you're like me, or Master will want to buy you, and you could be in trouble. Um... just, keep peace, okay?"

Kakashi frowned. "Alright," he said. He had an idea of what went on in this place Naruto's collar was prime evidence, for one thing. He dropped away again and began to murmur to Ibiki, repeating what Naruto had said in undertones. Ibiki nodded once, curtly, to signal that he understood, and Kakashi drifted away from him again.

"Kakashi," Naruto said suddenly, "You have to pretend you've been controlling me the whole way here, okay? Don't act like my friend." The blonde seemed quite anxious. Kakashi thought it was a little cute the way he was trying to protect his 'Packmate' so vehemently, and nodded as they reached the gates of the home of Nakamura Makoto.

There was a guard outside the closed wooden entrance, and he stopped the little procession.

"Who are you and what business do you have here?" he demanded roughly, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"We are an envoy from Konohakagure," Ibiki said smoothly. "We come seeking an audience with Nakamura Makoto. We have found something we believe belongs to him."

The Head Interrogator jerked his head at where Naruto was standing with Kakashi's hand on the back of his neck, fingers curled around his collar.

The guard considered for a moment, before nodding curtly. "Wait here," he ordered, slipping through the gates for a moment. He spoke on the other side, and then re-appeared.

"Come with me," he said, and the gate was swung open from the inside.

Makoto was waiting for them in a stone antechamber, seated at a sturdy wooden table when the visitors were shown in. His sharp amber eyes flicked over the five humans before settling on his pet, which was standing among the three children.

A stab of anger flicked behind his eyes as he forced a smile.

"Good afternoon," he said politely, standing as a courtesy. "I understand you have come to return an item of some value to me."

Ibiki answered he'd ordered the other not to speak, after all.

"Yes, Nakamura-sama," he said, stepping forwards, "We found a young jinchuuriki some weeks ago, and have since identified you as his owner. I am Morino Ibiki, and this is my comrade, Hatake Kakashi and his three students."

"Pleased to meet you," Makoto replied without even glancing at the others."Forgive me, I must deal with the creature before I play my role as host. Perhaps you could wait for me in the dining room. I will have someone lay out refreshments for you, and show you the way."

Kakashi looked like he might protest, but Ibiki shot him a look and he deflated, placing a hand on Toshi's shoulder and Sakura's back to guide them after the servant who had appeared like magic. Sasuke followed him silently, and Ibiki made sure he was the last out of the room. He had a fair idea what was going to happen.

He didn't object when Kakashi paused in the doorway, looking back, his expression worried under his usual mask of boredom. Maybe the man needed to see this.

Naruto stood alone in the stone room before Makoto, shivering as if frightened. There was an expectant pause before Makoto's eyes flashed and he flicked a hand.

Sakura gasped as the man who had been introduced as Yasuo, Naruto's 'Handler', stepped forwards and without preamble struck Naruto hard across the face, his fist striking his left cheek from behind with enough force to snap the boy's head to the side. Naruto's blue eyes widened at the violence, and Ibiki tilted his own head to see something fill the expressive organs. The interrogator wasn't quite sure what to name it, but it made all the difference between the Naruto that had walked here with them and the Naruto they had found and dragged back to Konoha five weeks ago. In two seconds flat, all progress that had been made evaporated, leaving little more than an intelligent animal where a boy well on his way to being human had once stood.

Naruto's shoulders shook and his lower lip trembled before his knees folded and he fell to the ground, pitching forwards to settle into a very low bow, his head lowered in an obvious display of submission.

"You fail to complete the task is have set you, come home a week and a half after my highly generous time limit, and then have the nerve to show such _blatant disrespect_!" Makoto hissed, clearly not appeased by the corrected expression and position. Naruto cringed away from him, shoulders hunching as he tried to shrink into himself.

Idly, Ibiki wondered if the fact that he was finding this a fascinating display of total psychological control and mentally taking notes with almost admiration was an indicator that he sorely needed a holiday.

Even if he hadn't been trained in the art of reading people from the smallest ticks and indicators, it would have been easy to see that this Makoto had Naruto absolutely terrified, and yet still desperately wanting to please him. A true slave/master relationship.

"I'm sorry, Master!" the blonde whimpered wretchedly. "Please, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I tried, I promise!"

"Silence!" Yasuo hit him again, this time across his back with the stout stick in his hand. "You weren't given permission to speak!"

"Yasuo, calm down."

Ah, now _that_ was interesting. Makoto stepped in before his man could overreact, protecting Naruto. Ibiki logged the information as he absently put a hand out, barring the way for Kakashi, who was trying to go back into the room.

"Kakashi, don't do anything stupid," he murmured quietly enough that their patiently waiting guide wouldn't hear them, not taking his eyes off the scene in the other room. "If we are going to help him in the long run, we must let him suffer now."

Kakashi hesitated, but nodded, falling back into his trusty mask of total emotionlessness, the one he'd used in ANBU, and as a child.

Shaking, no doubt flushed with adrenaline and awash with fear, Naruto lowered himself further, a physical substitute for the apologies he was not allowed to utter. His face and chest pressed against the stone floor and he brought his hands to rest palm-down on the floor next to his shoulders, leaving himself totally submissive and open to any blow the men cared to deal him, not even the flicker of an attempt to shield himself in his posture.

Ibiki narrowed his eyes. This servitude ran deep. Naruto was honestly dismayed at a fundamental level that his master was displeased, and obviously wouldn't be at peace until Master was once again pleased with him.

_That_ was interesting. If he could condition some of his spies with the same loyalty, the same subservient attitude

Ibiki cut that thought off, squashing it ruthlessly. No, not even he was heartless enough to reduce a person to what Naruto had become: a slave, an animal, a pet.

Makoto was shaking his head, looking with equal parts regret, distain and disappointment?

Bending down, he took a firm hold of Naruto's golden hair and pulled, tilting his head back to see his face, taking in the tears brimming in blue eyes which were averted. Good he was remembering his place.

"You always were my favourite pet, little one," he said, his tone regretful and soft, his amber eyes tracing the boy's features. "But that won't save you today." Abruptly, he let go of the boy's hair and looked up at the Handler standing behind him. "I think it's time to bring out the cat and show him some real punishment," he said, his voice different, as hard and cold as ice.

Naruto gave a stifled cry of very real fear, and for a split second, Makoto looked regretful before his face hardened and he stood. Ibiki noted the tears that formed in Naruto's eyes as his master began to walk away and saw the agony written all over his scarred face as he warred internally, before throwing out a hand to catch hold of Master's pant cuff, knowing full well he could just get his fingers trodden on hard for his trouble.

Instead, Makoto paused and looked down, scowling at the disobedient pet who _dared_ to behave like this.

The sight of the little fox's desperate, pleading face made his heart soften marginally, enough that he didn't reward the pet with a hard stomp on his hand, and instead glared as Naruto's eyes begged him for mercy.

"Master, forgive me," the blonde whimpered. Ibiki was fascinated. Such cruelty, and yet Naruto was still desperate to know his master didn't hate him when all was said and done.

Makoto considered for a surprisingly brief time before nodding once and leaning down, placing a hand gentle on the shivering child's head.

"I forgive you," he said simply. Then his voice hardened into something cruel and almost careless. "Flog him."

Kakashi made a convulsive movement as Yasuo grabbed Naruto and began to drag him away, but it was only a twitch before he was back under control. A furious glance from both adults got all three outraged children back in line, and the five quickly fell into step after the servant.

They made it to the room just ahead of their host, and Ibiki resigned himself to the task of making small talk with Makoto alone while Kakashi and Sasuke brooded and the other two sulked.

All five were failing miserably to keep images of what was happening to Naruto right now out of their minds.

* * *

"…Once we'd determined exactly who you were and where you lived, we brought him home. I'm sorry it took so long, but you know… red tape…" Ibiki shrugged apologetically.

Makoto waved a hand. "I understand completely. I apologise for any trouble he caused you. Do eat something, you must be starving."

Sakura bit her lip and looked uneasily at Kakashi. Ibiki was the only one who'd even touched the food they'd been offered. Everyone else was feeling too sick at the way Naruto had been treated to eat anything.

Kakashi stepped in before anyone (Toshi) said something stupid. The kids were doing an admirable job of keeping their mouths shut, and he suspected it wouldn't last much longer. He could _hear_ Toshi and Sasuke grinding their teeth as he said lightly, "I'm sorry, Makoto-sama. We ate just before we arrived teenagers, they choose such odd times to be starving." He smiled falsely, but it fooled their host, and the man chuckled. "Mostly, we're just tired," he added.

"Of course, you've come a long way with a creature like Naruto to control," he said totally missing the way three teenagers stiffened at the casual reference to their friend. "You must stay the night, it's far too late to go home today. I'll have someone show you to the guest rooms. I'm sorry, but I have some business to attend to, and so I must leave you now. Perhaps after breakfast tomorrow I can take you for a tour of my home."

Kakashi held his breath on the trip through the estate, and almost collapsed with relief when they made it to their assigned bedroom before the children exploded.

It took five minutes for the two shinobi to make sure the large room was soundproofed and bug-free.

"Hokay," sighed Kakashi slumping down on one big bed. Ooh, squishy…

Wait. The kids were being far too quiet. Instantly alert, he looked around sharply and saw them gathered silently by the window that overlooked the stone courtyard. With a glance at Ibiki, he rose to his feet and moved to stand behind them, using his height to see over their heads what they were looking at.

What he saw made his gut clench.

There was a perfect view of the entire courtyard. Off to the left, there was a large cage that Kakashi would almost have pegged as an aviary if not for the thickness of the bars and the fact that it was pulsing with chakra. Directly opposite this, on the right side of the courtyard, there was a sort of overhang, a section where there was a roof extending three or four metres past the building, providing shelter.

Apart from a sturdy wooden table and a few items stacked neatly along the wall, it was totally devoid of clutter, and so it was easy to spot Naruto kneeling in the shade, shirtless. His chest was heaving as he balanced his weight on the balls of his feet, stretched upwards as far as he could go.

It took a moment for Kakashi to realise his hands were bound, caught in some kind of iron cuffs suspended from the roof by a heavy chain. He wasn't struggling, he didn't even look particularly worried: rather, he was upset and resigned.

Yasuo was standing nearby, with another man Kakashi assumed was another Handler. In his hand, Yasuo was holding a simple but frightening whip, and as the Konohans watched, he sent it swishing through the air and let it land over Naruto's back, its nine tails fanning out to deliver a truly punishing blow.

Sakura gave a low exclamation of distress as the bronze skin of Naruto's back broke and he began to bleed, but Yasuo didn't hesitate, instead quickly raining several blows onto the prone body, ensuring with a practiced hand that the sharp tails of the whip licked over his whole torso until he was riddled with cuts.

Then, once Naruto's cheeks were wet with tears he was obviously trying desperately not to shed Kakashi winced at the indicator that he'd been whipped before: tears in whip-wounds only make things hurt more and Yasuo looked like he was tiring, the man stepped back.

There was time for the people watching to breathe a sigh of relief before the man turned and held the whip out to his fellow Handler. With a sneer, the other man took it from him.

They didn't start again right away. The Handlers stood back for a few minutes, waiting for something. Ibiki murmured in surprise and touched Kakashi's arm, leaning closer to hiss, "Look: he's healing."

Kakashi felt sick. They were waiting until Naruto's advanced healing rate had kicked in, in order to continue for longer overall.

Soon, the nameless man judged the jinchuuriki to be ready and stepped forwards, lifting the whip ominously.

Biting his lip hard enough to make it bleed, Toshi reached forwards and carefully eased the window up, letting the sound of what was happening fill the room. With every blow, Sakura flinched. Toshi had turned away and was listening with his eyes closed to the telling swish-_crack_ and Naruto's yelps and cries of pain. Sasuke was staring at the sight, unblinking, not seeming to notice how Sakura had slipped her arms around him and was hiding her face in his shoulder, crying quietly.

Kakashi noticed an ominous tensing of his student's shoulders and quickly shut the window; not a moment too soon, as Toshi promptly exploded into a scream of rage and lashed out, one fist slamming into the wall with a shriek of "God-_fucking-_dammit!"

Instantly, too quickly for either of the adults to have decided what to do yet, Sasuke shoved Sakura away and pinned Toshi's hands, and Sakura herself slapped a hand over his face.

"Shut up!" she hissed, "They'll hear you!"

"Don't be an idiot, Asshole," snarled Sasuke in his ear. "You'll make it worse!"

Toshi narrowed pale blue eyes and the next second Sakura squealed and grabbed her hand away, wiping his saliva off her palm where he had licked her. "Are _you_ just going to stand by and let them whip _our friend_ to a bloody pulp?" he demanded hotly as if he hadn't just resorted to such a childish trick to get free.

There was a pause before Sasuke let him go slowly and turned his murderous gaze to the adults.

"I suggest," he said slowly, glaring from one to the next, "You tell us what is going on here."

Kakashi and Ibiki looked at each other, silently conferring as they tried to decide what to do. They had to tell the kids something fast, to keep them playing along, but what?

Eventually, Ibiki grunted, turning away. "Whatever. May as well tell 'em, Hatake. They're old enough to understand: I always thought you keeping this from them was unnecessary protection."

Swish-_crack_! echoed from outside, and everyone cringed.

Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his hair, nodding once at Ibiki to tell him he'd gotten the hidden message.

"Okay," he said, sinking back down onto one of the two raised beds in the room. "Simply put, Naruto is a slave."

Swish-_crack_!

"A slave?" repeated Sakura, moving away from the window and sitting next to her teacher. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes. Makoto, as I'm sure you've gathered, owns him, and has ever since he was two years old or so."

Swish-_crack_! A cry of pain.

"Hn. Slavery is illegal," Sasuke commented. Kakashi inclined his head, but it was Ibiki who spoke up.

"In Fire Country, yes," he agreed. "Here, there are no specific laws on slavery, so it's not technically illegal. Slaves are particularly useful sources of information, so I've spoken to quite a few."

Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_! Three blows in quick succession, and Naruto screamed.

The Konohans all winced.

"Why the fucking hell did you bring him back, Sensei?" Toshi shouted, shoving Sasuke off him and punching the wall again, harder this time."Back to his stupid fucking master and this stupid fucking punishment!" he punched in time with his words and the wall steadily dented. "What did he even _do_! I mean… _fuck_!"

The teen's voice had risen to a shriek towards the end there, and he punched the wall one more time before leaning his head against the plaster with a groan. "I believe," Kakashi said slowly and carefully, "That he is being punished because he arrived home late, because we had to take him home and so he embarrassed his master and inconvenienced us."

"And the way he acted earlier seemed to rile Makoto, too," Ibiki put in."And the all-encompassing because-I-can aspect of the whole situation. Makoto is mad, he's taking it out on his slave."

"Sensei?" Sakura's voice was small and uncertain. "Di… did you know this was going to happen?"

Kakashi hesitated, before sighing. He couldn't lie to her. "Yes, I did," he said simply.

"Then why in nine hells did you bring him back?" Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who snarled this. The teacher glanced at him in time to see his sharingan flare to life.

"I think you heard my opinion when we were assigned this mission," the teacher said flatly. "I was against letting him come back here from the start."

"We had to," Ibiki commented. "Naruto was determined to come back to his master nothing we said would convince him it was a bad idea. So Hokage-sama decided that I'd come too, and try and buy Makoto out."

"But why are we wasting so much time and money trying to buy him?" Toshi demanded roughly. His eyes blazed as he added, "No way would the council approve this if it wasn't a special case."

Ibiki snorted, and Kakashi cringed. _Hoo, boy…_

"Because Kakashi here has a soft spot for him," the interrogator said brightly.

"Shut up," Kakashi mumbled.

"Hey, if you're going to waste more than half my annual budget buying the whelp, I'm allowed to complain about it."

"It wasn't _me_ who suggested buying a son of Konoha! I wanted to _steal_ him." Three teenagers made noises to bring the adults back on topic, and Kakashi was dragged back to his explanation. "Oh, right. Truthfully, it's because of his abilities," he said simply. He glanced at Toshi. "Remember when you first saw him? He's... odd. Powerful. And we want that power to be ours. Again.

"That's what we told the Council, at least," Ibiki retorted. "You brats were all too young to remember, but the Hokage was quite upset when he went missing as a kid."

Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_!

"Argh!"

Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_! Swish-_crack_!

As one, the visitors turned back to the window. Kakashi stood up and shouldered his students aside so that he could stand next to Ibiki, watching with grim resignation as Naruto was showered with lashes, more violently that before. The blonde twisted and screamed, blood dripping down his body, staining him a sick red colour, a mocking imitation of the demonic chakra that cloaked him so often.

Quite abruptly, the vindictive flogging stopped and Yusao stepped forwards, a small device Ibiki couldn't make out in his left hand as his right hand reached out to do something to Naruto's collar.

To the surprise of both men watching through the window, Naruto began to cry in earnest, and he was obviously pleading with the Handlers, begging for mercy or respite. But why would he do that _now_, when they had stopped beating him? Surely that whip was worse than whatever they were doing now?

Kakashi compulsively reached up and shoved his hitai-ate up, watching the happenings with his sharingan eye. As the unnamed Handler smacked the back of Naruto's head and snapped at him, obviously ordering him silent, Yusao fiddled with something on the device in his hand and the chakra in Naruto's collar surged.

The Hatake tensed, waiting for the collar to activate and flood Naruto's system, torturing him into unconsciousness. It never happened: instead, the collar seemed to be altering Naruto's chakra flow... stopping it?

That made no sense. Why would they limit his chakra to the point of nonexistence?

Kakashi jolted forwards as he was shoved from behind and took his eyes off the scene to glare at Toshi.

Toshi glared right back. "What's going on out there?" he demanded.

"They're done," Ibiki said simply. Kakashi looked back and saw it was true: the Handlers were untying the chain where it had been hooked into the wall, lowering Naruto to the ground carefully and releasing his hands before the larger man lifted him over his shoulders, totally uncaring of Naruto's whimpering as the cuts were pressed into his coarse jacket but more gentleness than Ibiki would have ever expected.

Sasuke placed a hand on Ibiki's elbow and pulled him away, forcing him to take a half-step backwards and pushing forwards so that he could see properly as well, watching Naruto being borne across the courtyard with narrowed sharingan eyes.

The unknown Handler carrying Naruto made his way towards the opposite end of the courtyard, and for a moment Kakashi thought he was headed for the large cage he'd seen earlier, but the Handlers walked right past it. Something that looked awfully like a human hand flicked into view behind the bars, but Yasuo slammed his stout stick into the bars and whatever _whoever_ was behind it hastily retreated.

The Handlers carried Naruto (who had gone limp, hanging compliantly across the broad shoulders of his bearer) past the cage to where there was what looked like a wooden cube, painted white, with no windows or even a door through which to enter or exit it. Kakashi estimated it to be about three meters cubed, and his eyes widened as the Handlers mounted a set of stairs that led to a platform set next to the top of the box.

Yasuo knelt and fiddled with something for a moment before standing up, lifting the top of the cube as he did so, and Kakashi realised it was hinged.

Sasuke _snarled_ as the Handler carrying Naruto stepped closer and without hesitation or preamble lowered the boy who had started to cry again into the box, dropping him gently when he'd been lowered as far as the man's arms would reach.

With a finalistic thump, Yusao dropped the lid closed and bolted it into place.

"They keep him in a fucking _box_?" Toshi bellowed, and there was a loud crash. Ibiki glanced at the children: Toshi was systematically destroying a small bedside table, Sakura was crying on one of the beds and Sasuke was clenching his fists, his face as ominous as a storm cloud. He smirked.

"They're your kids," he pointed out to Kakashi, and strode away to find the bathroom, leaving Kakashi to deal with the freaking teenagers.

Kakashi sighed, rubbing a hand over his hair. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Good morning."

Ibiki looked up and smiled at Yasuo, who had spoken. The five Konohans were eating breakfast in the kitchen, though they had not seen Makoto once yet today. Probably just as well, as Toshi would most likely have attacked him.

"Good morning," the scarred man returned. Yasuo bowed slightly.

"Makoto-sama has unfortunately been delayed by business," he said formally, "However, I would be happy to show you around this morning."

"Yes! Let's go!" Toshi said instantly, sounding enthusiastic. Kakashi was surprised, but it was nothing compared to when Sasuke nodded.

"Hn. I'm looking forward to seeing this place," he said contemplatively.

"It's so cool," Sakura agreed. "Can we have a tour? Please, Sensei?" Suddenly, Kakashi found himself accosted with two sets of puppy dog eyes and one half-glare half-pleading look.

Ibiki chuckled. "The children grew rather attached to the boy in the time he was in our care," he explained. "I think they are eager to see how his life works here."

Yusao looked confused for a moment, before his face cleared. "Boy...? Oh! You're talking about the fox. Yeah, sure, we'll pay him a visit, if you want, but I'm afraid you kids won't be able to bring him out to play with him today he's been put into solitary, and he'll have to stay there until tomorrow."

He smiled at the teenagers, and the three of them smiled back, thought Sasuke's was very thin, and Toshi's looked like he was in a measure of pain. Yusao's expression was so friendly, he looked just like a good-natured passerby who'd offered to do them a favour. Definitely not like the person who had beaten and enslaved their friend.

"Well, if you're ready, you can come with me while I feed the animals." Yusao checked his watch and flicked his head.

"Yes, we'll come," Sakura said instantly. Kakashi not as dumb as he looked, by any stretch of the imagination stood instantly, not willing to let his students wander off in this place without adult supervision.

Ibiki sighed and stood as well. "Let's go, then," he said.

Soon, they were outside and heading across the courtyard. Yasuo was carrying a rusting metal bucket that clanked with every moment.

Toshi stiffened slightly as the man who had carried Naruto last night appeared, carrying a similar bucket, heading towards them from the direction of the looming cage that took up almost a whole side of a courtyard. Yusao waved, and the man waved back.

"That's Tamasine," he said, leading the way towards the box Naruto had been locked in last night. "He's the other Handler who helps me look after the creatures. He's just been feeding the others, and I'll look after the one you found."

Kakashi observed the others grinding their teeth in order to keep silent.

"Here we are," Yusao said, reaching the box. With a grin, he led the way around the back of it, to where there was about a metre and a half between the courtyard wall and the side of the box which, inexplicably, had a thick black curtain hanging from it, stretching top to bottom.

Yusao reached out and tugged on the curtain, pulling it aside, narrating as he did so, "This is the isolation tank we put the animals in when they get out of control and need a little time to cool off. We keep them in the dark, because it calms them down and makes them sleepy. They're diurnal, so…"

He trailed off as the curtain was pulled to the side, revealing a side of the box that was made, not of wood like the others, but of thick, clear glass. Toshi was sure he wasn't the only one who felt his anger spike higher as they saw the inside of the box. He wasn't sure _what_ he'd been expecting: a bunk, certainly, including blankets and a pillow, and maybe some other furniture like a table or a sink or something.

Instead, the box was two thirds full of coarse hay and straw, and _nothing_ else. No, there was a trough screwed to the wall of the box just above the level the hay rose to, and Toshi could see by rising onto his tiptoes that it was full of water.

Naruto was easy to spot. During the night, he'd dug down into the hay, and had made an alcove against the glass just big enough for him to fit into if he curled up. Sasuke couldn't see the tunnel he'd used to get there, so he assumed it was being hidden by Naruto's body. It couldn't have collapsed, or Naruto wouldn't be able to breathe, and he was obviously alive, as he was moving groggily, squinting and hiding his face as the sudden light hurt his eyes.

Yusao sneered. "Yeah, this one always digs himself in," he commented. "I s'pose it's in his nature, the little fox. He'll always end up against this side, because the glass is cool and it gets rather hot and stuffy in there."

"Aren't you worried he'll run out of air?" asked Kakashi evenly. Yusao waved his hand.

"Nah. There's holes up there, see?" He pointed, and the visitors looked up to see several dozen two-inch circles around the top of the box. "Air can get in, but he can't get out. Excuse me, I've got to feed him. You stay here: you'll be able to see fine."

The man left, and Sakura instantly knelt, her eyes filling with tears as she put a hand on the glass right over where Naruto was curled.

Naruto finally managed to adjust to the morning light and squinted dully at them. The moment he recognised who was outside, his eyes lit up and he smiled a little hesitantly, placing a hand on the glass, right under where Sakura's was resting. But for an inch of glass, they would be touching.

Naruto's mouth moved, but they couldn't make out the words. Kakashi translated quickly, having read his lips. "He says hello. Good morning."

"Sensei, how can they treat him like this?" hissed Toshi. Kakashi sighed heavily.

"I don't know, kids," he said simply.

"We're going to get him out," Sasuke said darkly. "We are going to buy him. This is just temporary."

"Temporary or not, it's horrible!" Sakura exploded quietly. "Look at his cuts: they're still seeping. He hasn't healed at _all_. That must _hurt_, especially with the hay pricking him all night. And the dust might very well cause infection!"

She was sounding vaguely hysterical, so it was probably a good thing the roof was lifted off the box at that moment.

Naruto raised his head, hay falling into his hair and over his body as he upset the walls and roof of his precarious den, and he smiled a little sadly before turning and scrambling through the tunnel he'd dug to get down there, re-emerging at the top of the hay to watch as Yusao lowered the metal bucket into the box.

Naruto nodded a polite thanks at his Handler and waited for a command before he reached for the offered food, scooting so he sat near the glass side of the box and could see his friends.

His nose wrinkled as he dug his fingers into the… muck… he'd been given, and the lid of the box dropped closed just as he tentatively put some in his mouth the watching humans all felt sickened just by the sight of the brown goo Naruto was resignedly consuming.

"Ready to move on?" Yusao was back. Ibiki tilted his head towards him.

"Tell me," he said, "What do you feed him? We had terrible trouble feeding him he wouldn't eat bread or meat or rice until we ordered him, and even then he only ate the absolute minimum."

Yusao looked amused. "He did, did he?" he said. "I'll have to pass that along. That may well earn him a reward. Uh, yeah, he's been taught not to accept 'human' food. Can't have him being picky, you know? The best he ever gets is the leftovers from the kitchen slops, you know and only as a treat. Uh, no, we feed him and the others mostly just bran mixed with water. It just fills them up, you know, and doesn't leave them feeling hungry. Makoto doesn't like anything under his command to be hungry his family nearly starved during the war, so he knows what it's like but we can't feed 'em proper stuff, of they'll develop a taste for it. You give 'em meat, they'll go hunting when they're out, and suddenly they're not safe. At the moment, all of them, especially this one, are totally safe. I'd trust the fox here to carry a newborn baby.

"Anyway, we can't have them turning on us, looking for blood etcetera, so we keep them healthy with protein and vitamin powders, with bran or gruel to fill them and fruit when they behave for a bit of flavour. It works quite well, and it's perfectly fine for them."

Sakura silently watched Naruto choking down the muck that she wouldn't go _near_, with frequent stops to drink from the water trough, and felt her face setting.

No, it wasn't 'fine for them'. It couldn't be further from 'fine'.

Quietly, she stood and made her subdued way after her teacher when the curtain was pulled back over the glass by Yusao, plunging Naruto once again into darkness and the Konohans were led away.

She didn't look up when Toshi slipped an arm around her, or when Ibiki said, "I would like to arrange to speak with Makoto-sama before we leave. I have a business proposition for him…"

It wasn't _fair_.

* * *

**Twin1**: Next chapter will be updated sooner than this one was, promise. It's not nearly as dark, either. Next chapter: fluffiness comes back.


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